JP2008018839A - Vehicular communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To previously prevent theft of a vehicle, robbery of the vehicle and mischief to the vehicle by sensing the approaching of a suspicious person even at a parking/stopping place away from home, not limited to a specific parking place. <P>SOLUTION: Received electric wave strength when an electric wave from a transmission means 2 is received by a receiving means 5 is measured by RSSI measurement means 7 to perform monitoring, and it is detected that RSSI usually indicating a steady-state value is fluctuated by approaching of the suspicious person to the vehicle. Informing is performed to a portable radio device 11 possessed by a driver by an informing means 3, a horn is blown and a light is flashed using ECU connection means 10. Thereby, the suspicious person 18 is threatened and crime and mischief are previously prevented. Since monitoring can be performed only by the vehicle radio device 1 installed on a vehicle body, installation of a specific facility to the parking place is not required and monitoring function can be provided without selecting the parking/stopping place. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention transmits radio waves from a vehicle radio device installed in a vehicle body, receives reflected radio waves and diffracted radio waves, monitors a moving object such as a suspicious person approaching the vicinity of the vehicle by a change in the received radio waves, and operates This is a wireless communication device for a vehicle that notifies a person or the like.

  In recent years, as a keyless entry system, radio waves are sent to the radio wave receiving means provided in the vehicle by the radio wave sending means provided in the portable key of the driver, and when the driver approaches the vehicle or presses the switch provided on the key At the same time, wireless devices that lock and unlock doors and start engines have been put into practical use.

  Further, vandalism and vehicle theft are increasing as crimes related to vehicles, and a vehicle security system using radio waves has been proposed as a system for preventing such crimes (see Patent Document 1).

In Patent Document 1, radio waves from radio wave transmission means provided in a vehicle are received by an external radio wave reception means installed in a facility outside the vehicle, such as a parking pillar, and the electric field strength level is measured. It detects the disturbance of the radio wave intensity level that occurs when it approaches the station and contacts the outside.
JP 2006-155061 A

  However, in the method using the communication device provided outside the vehicle disclosed in Patent Document 1, the vehicle can be monitored only when the vehicle is parked at a specific parking place such as a parking lot or a garage at home, and when the vehicle is parked on the go Can no longer be monitored.

  In addition, as another method for monitoring theft of the vehicle at any place such as a place to go, a method of monitoring the position of the vehicle with GPS or detecting the movement of the vehicle with a vibration sensor is disclosed. The former cannot cope with an indoor parking lot where GPS radio waves do not reach, and the latter causes a burden that a new facility such as a vibration sensor needs to be installed.

  In addition, in such a method, the actual vibration or movement of the vehicle occurs after the crime is committed, and the prevention effect is reduced.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and the purpose of the present invention is to apply an existing wireless device to a vehicle such as a keyless entry that has been widely used. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle monitoring device that has an effect of monitoring crimes without specifying a parking place where monitoring can be performed, while realizing a vehicle monitoring device that can be introduced with a reduced burden.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the vehicle communication device of the present invention is the vehicle communication device having at least one set of radio wave transmission means and radio wave reception means installed in the vehicle or in the vehicle body. An electric field strength level measuring unit that measures the received electric field strength of the radio wave from the transmitting means, and performs an external notification operation when the electric field strength level measuring means measures a change in the electric field strength level that exceeds a predetermined value within the monitoring period. And informing means.

  In this way, since the vehicle can be monitored using the wireless device provided in the vehicle body, the vehicle can be monitored regardless of where the vehicle is parked or stopped.

  A first aspect of the present invention is a vehicle communication device having at least one set of radio wave transmission means and radio wave reception means installed in a vehicle or in a vehicle body, and an electric field strength level for measuring a received electric field intensity of radio waves from the radio wave transmission means. The vehicle communication device includes a measurement unit and a notification unit that performs a notification operation to the outside when the electric field strength level measurement unit measures a change in the electric field strength level that is greater than or equal to a predetermined value within a monitoring period.

  As a result, since the vehicle can be monitored using the wireless device provided in the vehicle body, the vehicle can be monitored regardless of where the vehicle is parked or stopped.

  In a second aspect based on the first aspect, the notification means transmits a notification message to the portable wireless device possessed by the owner or manager of the vehicle.

  For this reason, even if the user is away from the vehicle for work or meal, the vehicle abnormality can be immediately known and the vehicle can be returned to.

  According to a third aspect, in the first aspect, the vehicle communication device is connected to a vehicle control device that controls the equipment of the vehicle, and the electric field strength level measuring means has an electric field strength level within the monitoring period. A vehicle control device connection means is provided for signaling the outside such as turning on a light or blowing a horn when a change exceeding a predetermined value is measured.

  Thus, when a suspicious person approaches the vehicle without providing any new additional equipment, it is possible to threaten or attract the attention of the surroundings, and it is possible to stick crimes against the vehicle.

  In a fourth aspect based on the first aspect, the monitoring period is such that the electric field strength level between the vehicle communication device and the portable wireless device possessed by the owner or manager of the vehicle is below a predetermined threshold value or This is a period during which communication is impossible.

  Since the monitoring operation can be performed automatically after entering the monitoring period, it is possible to prevent the driver from forgetting to start the monitoring function and to perform the monitoring operation with certainty.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a monitoring area is set by adjusting a transmission radio wave output from the vehicle radio apparatus so that radio waves reach only a range near the vehicle.

  As a result, monitoring can be performed even at parking / parking locations where there are adjacent vehicles such as parking lots in the city and vehicles traveling in the vicinity, and the limitation of parking / parking locations where monitoring is possible can be greatly reduced.

  In a sixth aspect of the present invention, the direction of transmission / reception radio waves from the vehicle radio apparatus is set in the monitoring area so as not to see through an adjacent vehicle.

  This makes it possible to reduce false alarms by passengers in adjacent vehicles.

  In a seventh aspect of the invention, a monitoring area setting method is selected according to the parking / stopping location of the vehicle.

As a result, the driver can determine whether the parking lot is crowded or the surrounding situation, and can perform optimal and reliable monitoring.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a vehicle wireless device (vehicle communication device) 1 installed in a vehicle and a portable wireless device carried by a driver (for example, a wireless key or the like). A block diagram of a (mobile phone) 11 is shown.

  The vehicle radio apparatus 1 includes a main control unit 4 that controls the entire terminal, a pair of transmission unit 2 and a reception unit 5 that can simultaneously transmit and receive, as well as stopping the engine of the vehicle, blowing the horn, and turning off the light. When an ECU connection means 10 for controlling the main control means 4 from the main control means 4 and a suspicious person are detected, a main control device of the vehicle for controlling the vehicle equipment such as locking and unlocking of the door and the door is detected. Provided is a notification means 3 for sending a communication message to the portable wireless device 11 via the control means 4, for flashing a vehicle light, or for blowing a horn.

  Further, the vehicle radio apparatus 1 includes L antennas 7 and 8 having a small gain and a H antenna 9 for medium and long distances, which are pattern-wired in a loop on a substrate for short-range communication. Sends a signal to the antenna switching means 6 to connect the transmitting means 2 and the receiving means 5 to each antenna.

  The main control means 4 is composed of a microcomputer, a memory, and its peripheral circuits, and operates according to a program stored in advance such as a control sequence of the radio circuit and a control method of the ECU according to the radio wave intensity level.

  The transmission means 2 and the reception means 5 are constituted by an analog filter, a PLL circuit, an amplification circuit, and an interface circuit with the main control means 4, and the radio wave intensity level measurement means 27 (hereinafter referred to as RSSI measurement means) is transmitted from the transmission means 2. A radio wave intensity level (hereinafter referred to as RSSI) when the radio wave is received directly or by reflection or diffraction is received, and the measured RSSI is input to the main control unit 4. Further, the mounting configuration of each antenna, the number of short-distance and medium-long distance allocations, and the like are not limited to this description.

  Next, the portable radio apparatus 11 of FIG. 1 also includes a transmission means 12, a main control means 14, a reception means 15, an antenna switching means 16, and an antenna 17, and performs the same control as the vehicle radio apparatus 1. 11 does not transmit and receive at the same time, and the antenna switching unit 16 switches between the antenna 17 and the transmission unit 12 or the reception unit 15 for connection.

  In addition, the notification unit 13 is configured by a circuit such as an LED or a buzzer, and is configured to receive a notification message from the vehicle wireless device 1 and notify the driver who has the portable wireless device 11 of the notification.

  Normally, when the vehicle wireless device 1 and the portable wireless device 11 of FIG. 1 are used as a smart entry system, when the driver who has the portable wireless device 11 approaches the vehicle, the transmission means of the portable wireless device 11 12 transmits the authentication ID data to the receiving means 5 of the vehicle radio apparatus 1.

If the main control means 4 of the vehicle radio apparatus 1 matches with the previously stored authentication ID data, the main control means 4 accepts the transmission message from the portable radio apparatus 11 to unlock the door and start the engine. As an authenticated response, an ACK message is returned to the portable wireless device 11 or a vehicle light is passed through the ECU connection means 10 to notify the user.

  Furthermore, at the time of this authentication, the RSSI measuring means 27 measures the RSSI and compares it with a predetermined threshold value stored in advance. If it falls below this, even if the authentication ID data matches, the place where the driver is away from the vehicle In this case, the door may be unlocked and the engine may not be started.

  In addition, when more advanced control is performed as a smart entry, it is possible to prepare threshold values in several steps and perform various controls such as unlocking the door lock and starting the engine in stages.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, in addition to receiving the RSSI of the radio wave from the portable radio device 11, the radio wave transmitted from the transmission means 2 of the vehicle radio device 1 is reflected or diffracted on the surrounding wall, ground, vehicle body, etc. Then, by measuring the RSSI of the own radio wave that returns to the receiving means 5, when a moving object such as a suspicious person 18 approaches the vehicle body, it is detected that the RSSI of the own radio wave fluctuates from the steady state. Thus, the vehicle is monitored.

  2 and 3 are graphs showing an example of a time-series change in RSSI.

  FIG. 2 shows the RSSI of the own radio wave when the radio wave from the transmission unit 2 of the vehicle radio apparatus 1 is received by the reception unit 5. The situation assumed in the graph of FIG. 2 is an example in which the driver parks and stops near the time T0 to T1, opens the door, gets off the vehicle, and the suspicious person approaches the vehicle at the time T3 to T4. Is shown.

  At times T0 to T1, in order to perform operations such as opening and closing the vehicle door and the driver unloading the baggage, the own radio wave shielded by the normal door is reflected and received by an adjacent vehicle or structure, or the baggage is an antenna. RSSI fluctuates greatly due to the influence of reflection, shielding, and diffusion of its own radio wave in the vicinity.

  At times T1 to T2, the driver leaves the vehicle, and the RSSI fluctuation due to the driver's operation converges, so the RSSI with little fluctuation is measured.

  In the present embodiment, at the time T2 when the fluctuation range of this RSSI, for example, the peak-to-peak value (hereinafter referred to as pp value) falls below the predetermined threshold value ΔRSSI (ON) indicated by the broken line in FIG. Enter the monitoring period.

  Thereafter, during the monitoring period, when the threshold value ΔRSSI (W) exemplified by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 2 is exceeded, a notification operation is performed.

  In FIG. 2, at times T3 to T4, when the suspicious person approaches, the effect that the radio wave is absorbed by the suspicious person's body, the reflection and reflection angle change depending on the suspicious person's clothes and belongings, and the path of the multipath changes. The RSSI largely fluctuates due to the effect and the notification operation is performed at this time.

  As an algorithm for determining the change in RSSI, in addition to the method of comparing the pp value within a predetermined time with a threshold value, the arithmetic average value of a predetermined time such as a moving average value and the arithmetic average value of the steady intervals T1 to T2 For example, a method of determining that the absolute value of the difference between and the threshold value exceeds a threshold value may be used.

Furthermore, as a notification means, a portable radio possessed by the driver is used in addition to lighting a vehicle light, blowing a horn, intimidating a suspicious person using equipment provided in the vehicle, and attracting attention from the surroundings. A configuration in which an electronic message is transmitted to the device and a buzzer included in the portable wireless device is blown or an LED is turned on is also possible. Of course, it does not matter if a plurality of actions are performed simultaneously.

  Next, another example of determining the timing for automatically starting the monitoring period will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a graph showing a change in RSSI between the portable wireless device 11 and the vehicle wireless device 1 when the driver carrying the portable wireless device 11 goes away. When the driver starts getting off at time T0, fluctuations occur due to the multipath effect due to the shielding from the door and the reflection from the ground, nearby vehicles and structures, but the RSSI decreases asymptotically with distance.

  Therefore, as shown in RSSI (vehicle departure threshold) in FIG. 3, if the driver sets the RSSI when the vehicle is away from the set distance as a threshold, and automatically falls below this, the monitoring period is entered. As in FIG. 2, the monitor mode can be automatically entered.

  At this time, even if the driver is not sufficiently away from the vehicle, the RSSI may be instantaneously lowered due to the influence of multipaths or the shielding of the vehicle door, etc. It is more effective to combine the determination method that makes the time point when the threshold value is continuously below the threshold value.

  As a method for determining the timing of entering the monitoring period, a switch for starting the monitoring period is provided in the portable wireless device, and when the driver presses this switch, the monitoring period is changed from the portable wireless device to the vehicle wireless device. A method may be used in which a control message instructing the start is transmitted, and the main control unit 4 performs control to enter the monitoring period in response to the message.

  In addition, as a method for determining the end timing of the monitoring period, a method of automatically ending the monitoring period when the driver returns to the vehicle and receives a message for transmitting the authentication ID from the portable wireless device again, A method may be used in which the monitoring engine is explicitly terminated when a person presses a switch for operating the termination of the monitoring period of the portable wireless device.

  In the above description, an example has been described in which one vehicle wireless device is configured to be able to transmit and receive simultaneously. However, in the case of a wireless device configuration that cannot perform simultaneous transmission and reception, two wireless devices are used. It may be realized.

  Further, there may be a plurality of receiving devices such as two sets. In this case, it is also possible to install two vehicle radio devices, one near the dashboard and the other near the rear trunk room.

  Next, as shown in the schematic diagrams of FIGS. 4 and 5, there may be cases where vehicles are parked adjacent to each other in a shared parking lot or a parking lot outside the home.

  In FIG. 4, the right side of the vehicle 22 is the fence 24, and it is considered that the radio wave due to the multipath from the fence 24 becomes steady, but the left side can be a new vehicle coming in and out and a driver and a passenger getting on and off.

  In such a case, the sensitivity direction of the short-range antenna is made substantially parallel to the side of the vehicle body so that the adjacent passengers do not cross the monitoring area, or the transmission power is reduced to reduce the vehicle body pier part. There is a method of constructing in the very vicinity of an unshielded window.

In addition, as shown by a broken line 26 in FIG. 5, a method of setting the reception sensitivity direction diagonally upward from the window and setting a monitoring area where an adjacent vehicle is not expected is also effective. If the antenna directivity direction is set to the sky direction, the monitoring area can be set only in the on-vehicle area that is diffracted around the window and at the top of the vehicle body.

  In addition to the above description, reflected waves and diffracted waves from the ceiling structure may be received as a multipath depending on the surrounding conditions such as an indoor parking place. In this case, the driver who has the portable wireless device 11 leaves the vehicle, the RSSI when the RSSI becomes a steady value and enters the monitoring period is stored as an initial value, and the difference from the RSSI initial value is It is also effective to add a detection algorithm that notifies when a predetermined threshold value is exceeded.

  In addition to this, it is also effective to widen the monitoring area with the antenna directing direction substantially horizontal in parking lots such as open spaces, mountains, and seaside where there are few parked vehicles and passers-by.

  Further, if such a monitoring area can be set by the driver of the portable wireless device 11 based on the day of the week, time zone, experience, etc., the monitoring effect is further improved.

  Finally, in the above description, an example of notifying the portable wireless device as a notification means or using the in-vehicle equipment of the horn or the light of the corresponding vehicle is shown, but the wireless device using a specific low power wireless band Although it depends on the surrounding buildings and geographical conditions, there are cases known to reach more than several kilometers, not only for notifying mobile wireless devices but also for home and vehicle services. It is very effective if it can communicate with the facility that performs In this case, if the transmission means 2 is connected to the medium and long distance H antenna 9 for transmission, reliable reporting is possible and the effect is even higher.

  In this embodiment, a configuration in which a wireless device used as a smart entry is used together is shown. However, it is not always necessary to use a wireless device, and a wireless device separate from the monitoring function is prepared even in a configuration having only a monitoring function. Of course, it does not matter even if it is a configuration in which only some means such as a transmission means are used in combination.

  As described above, according to the vehicle communication device of the present invention, it is not necessary to install a new facility in a parking lot or the like by applying a wireless device such as smart entry, and a parking and stopping place such as a place to go is selected. In addition, it is possible to provide a vehicle monitoring device that can monitor the approach of a suspicious person to a vehicle when parked or stopped. It can also be used for home security in houses and houses.

The block diagram of the vehicle radio | wireless apparatus and portable radio | wireless apparatus in embodiment of this invention The figure which showed an example of the time-sequential change of the radio wave intensity level of the monitoring radio wave in the embodiment of the present invention The figure explaining an example of the method of determining the timing which enters into a monitoring period from the change of the electromagnetic wave intensity level between the portable radio | wireless apparatus and vehicle radio | wireless apparatus in embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic top view showing an example of a method for setting a monitoring area at a parking / stopping place where an adjacent vehicle exists in an embodiment of the present invention. The schematic side view which shows another example of the setting method of the monitoring area in the parking stop location where the adjacent vehicle exists in embodiment of this invention

Explanation of symbols

1 Vehicle radio equipment (vehicle communication equipment)
2 Transmission means (Radio wave transmission means)
3 Informing means 5 Receiving means (radio wave receiving means)
6 Antenna switching means 7, 8, 9 Antenna 10 ECU connection means (vehicle control device connection means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Portable radio | wireless apparatus 12 Transmission means 15 Reception means 16 Antenna switching means 17 Antenna 27 RSSI measurement means (electric field strength level measurement part)

Claims (7)

In a vehicle communication device having at least one set of radio wave transmission means and radio wave reception means installed in a vehicle or in a vehicle body, an electric field strength level measurement unit that measures the received electric field strength of radio waves from the radio wave transmission means, and a monitoring period An in-vehicle communication apparatus comprising: an informing means for performing an informing operation to the outside when the electric field intensity level measuring means measures a change of a predetermined electric field intensity level or more. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit transmits a notification message to a portable wireless device possessed by an owner or manager of the vehicle. The vehicle communication device is connected to a vehicle control device that controls equipment of the vehicle, and the light is turned on when the electric field strength level measuring means measures a change of the electric field strength level more than a predetermined value during the monitoring period. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1, further comprising vehicle control device connection means for signaling the outside such as lighting or blowing a horn. The monitoring period is a period in which an electric field intensity level between the vehicular communication device and a portable radio device possessed by the owner or manager of the vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold or communication is impossible. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1, wherein a monitoring area is set by adjusting a transmission radio wave output from the vehicle communication device so that a radio wave reaches only a range near the vehicle. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1, wherein a direction of a transmission / reception radio wave from the vehicle communication device is set in a monitoring area substantially upward so as not to see an adjacent vehicle. The vehicle communication device according to claim 5, further comprising means for selecting a monitoring area setting method according to a parking / stopping location of the vehicle.

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