JP2008153773A - On-board wireless lan system and control method of on-board wireless lan - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent not only wasting of resources, but also unnecessary radio wave interference in peripheral areas of a vehicle in the middle of a travel resulting from transmission of a radio wave from the vehicle during the travel when antennas for wireless LAN access point is installed inside and outside the vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The on-board wireless LAN system which has a wireless LAN access point, an Internet connection means, and the wireless LAN antennas and is mounted on the vehicle has a vehicle state detecting means of detecting the current state of the vehicle, a vehicle state discrimination means of discriminating the state of the vehicle based upon the detection results thereof, a control signal generating means of generating a signal for controlling the operation of the wireless LAN antenna outside the vehicle based upon the discrimination results, and an antenna control means of controlling the output of the wireless LAN antenna outside the vehicle based upon the generated control signal, thereby transmitting no unnecessary radio wave to outside the vehicle during a travel and providing services of wireless LAN inside and outside the vehicle during a stop. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle wireless LAN system mounted on a moving body such as a vehicle, and more particularly to an in-vehicle wireless LAN system capable of changing a control operation based on a traveling state of the moving body and a method for controlling the in-vehicle wireless LAN.

  Currently, in-vehicle wireless LAN systems are in practical use. This is a wireless LAN that can be used in trains, buses, airplanes, and other transportation facilities. As an example, NTT DoCoMo, Inc. has established a commercial service for wireless LAN in “Tsukuba Express Train” in 2006. Started on August 24, 2000 (see Non-Patent Document 1). In the present specification, “on-vehicle” refers to being mounted on a mobile body such as a train, a vehicle, a ship, and an aircraft.

  As another example, NEC Corporation has started a demonstration experiment of the “BBRide system” that enables broadband Internet connection from high-speed moving vehicles. This is because the wireless LAN access point installed in the vehicle is equipped with means for connecting to the Internet outside the vehicle and means for relaying communication between the Internet outside the vehicle and the wireless LAN client side, and passengers inside the vehicle have their own wireless LAN clients. By connecting to this wireless LAN access point, it is possible to connect to the Internet.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the conventional in-vehicle wireless LAN system includes an Internet connection unit 310, a wireless LAN access point 320, and an antenna 330 and is mounted on a vehicle 370. Then, the wireless communication with the wireless LAN client 360 such as a passenger in the vehicle is relayed to the Internet 340 through the antenna 330 at the wireless LAN access point 320.

  As a conventional example, a case where a sightseeing bus is assumed as public transportation and an in-vehicle wireless LAN Internet system is constructed will be described with reference to FIG. It is assumed that the passenger's terminal 420 in the initially traveling bus 400 is connected to the Internet via the in-vehicle wireless LAN system in the vehicle. When a sightseeing bus stops at a resting point 470 for a break, some passengers stay in the bus (440) and others go outside and rest around the bus ( 450). Passengers are connected to the wireless LAN in the bus car, but when they leave the bus, the wireless LAN signal in the car is attenuated rapidly when they leave the bus, resulting in a loss of connection with the Internet service. Will end up.

As an example of a publicly available prior art, it has a position determining means for determining whether a portable terminal is in the vehicle or outside the vehicle based on a communication state in which communication is performed via an antenna inside and outside the vehicle. Thus, there is an “in-vehicle communication device” that can distinguish between the interior of the vehicle and the exterior of the vehicle with respect to the location of the portable terminal capable of short-range wireless communication (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-124863 A Internet <URL: http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/service/data/mzone/tsukuba/index.html>

  As a problem of the above-described in-vehicle wireless LAN system, the in-vehicle wireless LAN system is intended only for passengers in the vehicle, and a wireless antenna is also installed only in the vehicle. Therefore, when going out of the vehicle and away from the vehicle, the radio wave from the inside of the vehicle is rapidly attenuated and the connection with the wireless LAN is broken.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, it is conceivable to install an antenna for a wireless LAN access point not only inside the vehicle but also outside the vehicle, but the following problems occur here. In other words, by installing an antenna for a wireless LAN access point outside the vehicle, wireless LAN radio waves are continuously emitted outside the vehicle even when the vehicle is running and passengers cannot go outside. A radio wave will be emitted. This leads to unnecessarily consuming wasteful power consumption, and also causes a problem that inadvertent radio wave interference may occur in the area around the vehicle that is running.

  Although the invention described in Patent Document 1 is an in-vehicle communication device, it is not possible to suppress the emission of radio waves when emission of radio waves outside the vehicle is unnecessary.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when the antenna for the wireless LAN access point is simply installed inside and outside the vehicle, the emission of radio waves to the outside of the running vehicle is a resource. It is an object of the present invention to solve the problem that there is a possibility that unnecessary radio wave interference may occur in an area around a vehicle that is running.

  In order to achieve this object, the invention described in claim 1 is an in-vehicle wireless LAN system mounted on a vehicle having a wireless LAN access point, an Internet connection means, and a wireless LAN antenna, Vehicle state detection means for detecting the current state, vehicle state determination means for determining the state of the vehicle based on the detection result of the vehicle state detection means, and an external wireless LAN antenna based on the determination result of the vehicle state determination means Control signal generating means for generating a signal for controlling the operation of the vehicle, and antenna control means for controlling the output of the wireless LAN antenna for outside the vehicle based on the control signal generated by the control signal generating means. To do.

Each means described in claim 1 operates as follows.
The vehicle state detection means detects the current vehicle speed, acceleration, position, door state, and side brake operating state. Next, the vehicle state determination means determines the vehicle state based on the information from the vehicle state detection means. For example, whether the vehicle is traveling based on speed, whether abnormal negative acceleration is detected from acceleration (such as determining a stop due to a collision accident), whether it is near a stop or simply waiting for a signal, door Since the possibility of passengers getting on and off can be determined from the open / closed state, the accuracy of the operation can be further improved. Next, a signal for controlling the wireless LAN antenna output outside the vehicle is generated by the control signal generation unit based on the information from the vehicle state determination unit. For example, if the vehicle is clearly running, a signal for cutting off the output of the outside wireless LAN antenna is generated and sent to the antenna control unit. Then, the antenna control means controls the antenna output of the actual wireless LAN outside the vehicle based on the signal from the control signal generator.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the vehicle state detecting means is based on acceleration detected by the acceleration detecting means (101 in FIG. 1) for detecting acceleration applied to the vehicle and acceleration detected by the acceleration detecting means. A physical quantity calculating means (102 in FIG. 1) for calculating a predetermined physical quantity, a vehicle speed detecting means (103 in FIG. 1) for detecting the speed of the vehicle using a signal from the vehicle speedometer, and acquiring the current position of the vehicle Current location information acquisition means (104 in FIG. 1), door open / close detection means (105 in FIG. 1) for detecting the open / close state of the vehicle door, manual brake state detection means for detecting whether or not the vehicle manual brake is operating. (106 in FIG. 1).

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the antenna control means includes a variable gain amplifier, an RF switch, an antenna directivity control means for controlling the directivity of the antenna, and an antenna for controlling the direction of the antenna. It is characterized by comprising at least one of direction control means and means for turning on / off the power of the wireless LAN access point.

As a method of antenna output control by the antenna control means, the following method can be considered. In the present invention, at least one of the following <a> to <e> can be performed.
<a> When two access points are installed inside and outside the vehicle, an instruction to turn off the power is given to the access points outside the vehicle (see FIG. 11).
<B> An instruction is given to perform ON / OFF control of the switch connected to the antenna (see FIG. 7).
<C> An instruction is given to control the gain of the high-frequency amplifier connected to the antenna (see FIGS. 8, 11, and 12).
<D> When the radio antenna has a configuration in which directivity can be controlled with technology such as an antenna array, control is performed so that the beam is directed only inside the vehicle while traveling and the beam is widened while the vehicle is stopped so that the radio wave can reach outside the vehicle. Perform (see FIG. 9).
<E> When the wireless antenna is a directional antenna and the directivity can be controlled by mechanical means, the beam is directed only to the inside of the vehicle while traveling, and the beam can reach the outside of the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped. The direction is controlled (see FIG. 10).

  The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the acceleration detecting means uses an acceleration sensor.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the current location information acquisition means uses a GPS (Global Positioning System).

  The invention according to claim 6 is a control method for an in-vehicle wireless LAN carried out using a wireless LAN access point, Internet connection means, and a wireless LAN antenna mounted on a vehicle, and detects the current state of the vehicle. Vehicle status detection step, vehicle status determination step for determining the status of the vehicle based on the detection result of the vehicle status detection step, and a signal for controlling the operation of the external wireless LAN antenna based on the determination result of the vehicle status determination step A control signal generating step for generating the antenna, and an antenna control step for controlling the output of the wireless LAN antenna for vehicle exterior based on the control signal generated in the control signal generating step.

  According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the sixth aspect of the invention, the vehicle state detecting step detects an acceleration applied to the vehicle, calculates a predetermined physical quantity based on the detected acceleration, and a vehicle speed of the vehicle. The vehicle speed detection step that detects the vehicle speed using the signal from the meter, the current location information acquisition step that acquires the current position of the vehicle, the door open / close detection step that detects the open / closed state of the vehicle door, and the vehicle manual brake It is at least one or more of manual brake state detection steps for detecting whether or not it is performed.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the antenna control step includes a variable gain amplifier, an RF switch, an antenna directivity control means for controlling the directivity of the antenna, and an antenna for controlling the direction of the antenna. The output of the wireless LAN antenna for outside the vehicle is controlled using at least one of direction control means and means for turning on / off the power of the wireless LAN access point.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the invention according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the acceleration detecting step detects acceleration applied to the vehicle using an acceleration sensor.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the seventh to ninth aspects, the current location information obtaining step obtains the current location of the vehicle using a GPS (Global Positioning System). It is characterized by that.

  As described above, according to the configurations and procedures described in the above claims, the present invention can control the output of radio waves to the outside of the vehicle based on the state of the vehicle, and can achieve the object of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, in an in-vehicle wireless LAN system, when it is unnecessary to emit a wireless LAN radio wave to the outside of the vehicle such as when the vehicle is running, the emission of the radio LAN radio wave to the outside of the vehicle is appropriately suppressed while the emission of the radio wave is suppressed. In some cases, by controlling so that radio waves are emitted or directivity extends outside the vehicle, resources can be used efficiently and unnecessary radio wave interference can be prevented.

  The reason for this is that by having vehicle state detection means such as an acceleration sensor and vehicle state determination means for determining the state of the vehicle based on information detected by the vehicle state detection means, the running state of the vehicle can be determined. This is because it is possible to perform control such as stopping the emission of radio waves to the outside of the vehicle after traveling.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment]
Referring to FIG. 1, an in-vehicle wireless LAN system according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a vehicle state detection unit 100 that detects a current vehicle state, and a vehicle based on information from the vehicle state detection unit 100. Vehicle state determination means 110 for determining the state of the vehicle, control signal generation means 120 for generating a signal for controlling the operation of the wireless LAN outside the vehicle based on information from the vehicle state determination means 110, vehicle interior and exterior based on the control signal, In particular, it comprises an antenna control means 130 for controlling the wireless LAN antenna output outside the vehicle, an in-vehicle wireless LAN access point section 140, an Internet connection means 160, and an antenna section 150.

  Next, details of each of these means will be described below.

  The vehicle state detection unit 100 includes an acceleration detection unit 101, a physical quantity calculation unit 102, a vehicle speed detection (measurement) unit 103, a current location information acquisition unit 104, a door opening / closing detection unit 105, and a manual brake state detection unit 106. .

  The vehicle state detection means 100 is a part that collects information that is the basis of vehicle state determination. In FIG. 1, information from five types of vehicle state detection means (acceleration detection means 101 and physical quantity calculation means 102, vehicle speed detection means 103, current location information acquisition means 104, door opening / closing detection means 105, manual brake state detection means 106) is obtained. Although these are described as being input to the vehicle state determination means 110, all of these five types are not necessarily required, and in the implementation, one or more arbitrary types of detections are performed depending on the balance between operation accuracy and cost. A combination of means may be used.

  The acceleration detection means 101 is a means for detecting the acceleration applied to the vehicle, and is generally called a “three-axis acceleration sensor” and is a sensor that can detect acceleration in a three-dimensional direction and is commercially available. .

  The physical quantity calculating means 102 is means for calculating (integrating) the acceleration based on the acceleration information detected by the acceleration detecting means 102 and calculating the speed and the relative position. Generally, an arithmetic element such as a CPU or DSP is used. Composed.

  The vehicle speed detection means 103 is a means for taking in a signal from a vehicle speedometer (vehicle speed meter). The speed (vehicle speed) can also be obtained by the acceleration detection means 101 and the physical quantity calculation means 102, but the information can be complemented with each other.

  The current location information acquisition unit 104 is assumed to be a GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like, and position information on a map can be obtained. The location information (map information, current location information) obtained from the current location information acquisition unit 104 can be used, for example, to determine whether the vehicle is located near a stop (or a station if a train).

  The door opening / closing detection means 105 detects and outputs opening / closing information indicating whether the vehicle door is open or closed. For example, if this wireless LAN system is intended only for passengers in and out of a vehicle, the vehicle can simply wait for a signal at an intersection if the door is not opened and the wireless LAN signal is not transmitted. This can be used to prevent a wireless LAN radio wave outside the vehicle from being sent out due to a malfunction when the vehicle stops.

  Manual brake state detection means 106 is means for detecting whether or not the vehicle side brake is operating.

  The vehicle state determination unit 110 determines the traveling state and the current position of the vehicle based on each information from the vehicle state detection unit 100, and controls the transmission output from the external wireless LAN antenna 151 (ON / OFF, output adjustment). ) To determine whether or not to perform. For example, the speed obtained from the physical quantity calculating means 102 is zero or more, that is, “running”, the signal from the vehicle speed detecting means 103 is also “running”, and the position information from the current location information obtaining means 104 is “stop location”. Is not in the vicinity (in the middle of the travel route), the opening / closing information from the door opening / closing detection means 105 is “door closed”, and the signal from the manual brake operation detection means 106 is “side brake” In the case of a combination of the conditions that “is not operating”, it is determined that “the transmission from the wireless LAN antenna outside the vehicle is not performed”. By such a control operation, it is possible to finally prevent the emission of radio waves outside the vehicle in unnecessary situations, and it is possible to prevent waste of resources.

  The control signal generation unit 120 is a part that generates and transmits a control signal to the antenna control unit 130 described later based on the determination information from the vehicle state determination unit 110. In the above-described example, when a signal determined as “no transmission from a wireless LAN antenna outside the vehicle is not performed” is transmitted from the vehicle state determination unit 110, “ A signal for instructing not to perform transmission from an external wireless LAN antenna is generated and transmitted.

  The antenna control unit 130 controls the output of the antenna controlled by the antenna control unit 130 based on the control signal from the control signal generation unit 120. For example, when a control signal “Do not transmit from a wireless LAN antenna outside the vehicle” is received, transmission from the antenna 151 attached outside the vehicle among the antennas 151 and 152 connected to the antenna control means 130. It is sufficient to perform the control to turn off.

  The in-vehicle wireless LAN access point unit 140 is a general wireless LAN access point, and is connected to the wireless LAN terminal via the antenna unit 150 connected to the antenna control unit 130 to enable communication. The end has a function of connecting to the Internet 170 via the Internet connection means 160, relaying communication with the wireless LAN terminal, and enabling Internet communication.

  The antenna unit 150 is connected to the antenna control unit 130 and includes one or more antennas. Here, as an example, a vehicle exterior (external) antenna 151 and a vehicle interior (internal) antenna 152 are configured.

  Next, the overall operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 1 and 2.

  First, the vehicle state detection means 100 detects the vehicle state. That is, information indicating the current acceleration, travel speed (vehicle speed), door open / close status, position information (map information), and side brake operation status is acquired (step A1 in FIG. 2A).

  Next, the vehicle state determination unit 110 determines the vehicle state based on various information acquired by the vehicle state detection unit 100, and determines the control method (ON / OFF, output adjustment, etc.) of the wireless LAN antenna outside the vehicle. (Step A2 in FIG. 2A).

  Finally, the control signal generation unit 120 generates and sends a signal for instructing the antenna control unit 130 according to the determination result determined by the vehicle state determination unit 110 (step in FIG. 2A). A3).

  Here, an example of the vehicle state determination method of the vehicle state determination unit 110 in step A2 of FIG. 2A will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  First, based on information from the acceleration detection means 101 and the physical quantity calculation means 102, it is determined whether or not an abnormal value of acceleration due to vehicle collision is applied (step A21). Next, the speed of the vehicle is determined based on the information from the vehicle speed detecting means 103 (or both the information from the vehicle speed detecting means 103 and the information from the acceleration detecting means 101 and the physical quantity calculating means 102) (step A22) When it is determined that the vehicle speed is zero, that is, the vehicle is stopped, it is determined in the next step whether or not the vehicle is near a stop based on the map information indicating the vehicle position from the current location information acquisition means 104 ( Step A23), if it is determined that the vehicle is near the stop, the door opening / closing status is determined in the next step based on information from the door opening / closing detection means 105 (Step A24), and the door is open. If it is determined, the operation state of the manual brake is determined in the next step based on the information from the manual brake state detecting means (step A25), and the manual brake If it is determined that the wireless LAN system antenna 151 outside the vehicle is to be transmitted, the control signal generator 120 informs the control signal generator 120 of the fact that it is determined that the wireless LAN system antenna outside the vehicle should be transmitted. Notification is made (step A26). Thereafter, the control signal generation means 120 that has received the notification performs a control signal generation and transmission step (step A3 in FIG. 2A).

  In FIG. 2B, the determination processes do not necessarily have to be performed in the order shown, and a matrix table of the states of the detection means is created from a set of information from the vehicle state detection means 100, and the combination result is obtained. The control method may be determined from

The effect of this embodiment will be described.
In the present embodiment, the vehicle state (situation) is collected by various sensors of the vehicle state determination unit, the current vehicle state is determined by the vehicle state determination unit based on the collected data, and the external antenna is controlled. The method (ON / OFF of radio wave transmission, output adjustment, etc.) is determined, and based on the determination, a predetermined control signal is sent from the control signal generation means to the antenna control means. The antenna control means controls the actual antenna output. Therefore, the transmission of radio waves to the outside of the vehicle can be flexibly controlled in accordance with the situation of the vehicle. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, when the emission of the wireless LAN radio wave to the outside of the vehicle is unnecessary, such as when the vehicle is traveling, the emission of the radio wave is suppressed, while when the radio LAN radio wave emission to the outside of the vehicle is appropriate, By controlling the launching or directivity to extend outside the vehicle, resources can be used efficiently and unnecessary radio wave interference can be prevented.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, another embodiment (second embodiment) of the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As the configurations of the antenna control unit 130, the antenna unit 150, and the in-vehicle wireless LAN access point unit (hereinafter referred to as an access point) 140 in FIG. 1 already described, a plurality of methods can be considered in detail. Therefore, as a second embodiment, various configuration examples of the antenna control unit 130, the antenna unit 150, the vehicle exterior antenna 151, the vehicle interior antenna 152, and the access point 140 in FIG. 1 will be described in detail below.

  7 is a configuration in which a switch 710 is inserted between the outside antenna 731 and the access point 720 for outside antenna control. By turning on / off the switch 710 with a control signal from the control signal generating means 700, the output from the outside antenna 731 is turned on / off. Although it does not save power consumption because it is simply disconnected, there is an advantage that control is simple and can be realized very easily.

  In the configuration example 2 shown in FIG. 8, variable gain amplifiers 810 and 811 are mounted in place of the switch for controlling the antenna outside the vehicle, and the control signal from the control signal generation means 800 is used outside the vehicle (and inside the vehicle if necessary). The transmission output can be controlled. The advantage of the configuration example 2 is that, unlike the simple disconnection of the output as shown in FIG. 7, the amplification gain of the amplifier is controlled and reduced, so that not only simple ON / OFF but also the transmission output can be changed flexibly. Can be made. In addition, the power consumption can be reduced accordingly.

  Configuration example 3 shown in FIG. 9 is a mode in which the antenna control means is further configured. In this embodiment, unlike the configuration of FIG. 7, an array antenna composed of two antennas 931 and 932 is configured as the antenna unit 930. As a method of antenna control by the directivity control means 910, directivity (antenna beam) is used. Can be changed. In order to control the directivity of an array antenna, it is usually possible to control the directivity and output of radio waves by preparing two or more antennas and controlling the phase amplitude of the electrical signal input to the antenna for each antenna. Yes (array antenna technology). With this configuration example 3, for example, the beam is directed only to the inside of the vehicle while traveling, and when the vehicle is stopped, the beam pattern is changed so that the radio wave reaches outside the vehicle. Can be obtained. Further, the number of antennas may be three or more. In this case, since the degree of freedom increases as the number of antennas increases, more precise beam pattern control can be performed.

  In the configuration example 4 shown in FIG. 10, a directional antenna 1030 is prepared as an antenna, and the directivity is controlled by physically rotating the direction of the antenna by the directivity control means 1010. In this configuration example 4, for example, the direction of the antenna is directed toward the inside of the vehicle so that the electric wave mainly reaches only inside the vehicle during traveling, while the antenna is rotated outside so that the electric wave can reach outside the vehicle while stopping. Control can be performed. In order to realize the configuration example 4, a mechanical mechanism for rotating the antenna is required, but there is an advantage that complicated signal processing for forming a beam pattern as in the array antenna of the configuration example 3 is not required. is there.

  Configuration example 5 shown in FIG. 11 is a mode in which the antenna control means is further configured. This configuration is different from the configurations 1 to 4 in other configurations, that is, a configuration in which a plurality of antennas are controlled from one access point, and a plurality of access points are prepared (1120, 1121). The plurality of access points are connected to the Internet connection means 1150 via the HUB 1140 on the Internet side network interface side, while the outside antenna 1131 is connected to the access point 1120 via the variable gain amplifier on the antenna unit 1130 side. This is the configuration. In this configuration example 5, for example, an in-vehicle access point 1121 and an in-vehicle access point 1120 are prepared independently, and a desired effect is obtained by controlling transmission output from these access points. It is. As a control method, the gain of the variable gain amplifier 1110 may be adjusted, the operation of the access point 1120 itself may be controlled (for example, the power is turned ON / OFF), or both of them may be used. The advantage of Configuration Example 5 is that the number of clients can be increased because the access points are independent inside and outside the vehicle.

  Configuration example 6 shown in FIG. 12 is the simplest configuration example as opposed to the other configuration examples 1 to 5, and does not distinguish between the inside and outside of the vehicle as an antenna, and simply controls the antenna output. In this configuration example, for example, while driving on a bus, the radio wave intensity that is necessary and sufficient to provide only to passengers in the car is suppressed, and the output is increased when the radio wave reach is extended to the vicinity of the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped. As described above, the above object is achieved by adjusting the gain of the variable gain amplifier 1210.

Next, the operation of the example will be described as a specific example of the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 shows an example in which the in-vehicle wireless LAN system of this embodiment is mounted on a bus.

The in-vehicle wireless LAN system of the present invention is
1300 is a vehicle state detection unit that detects the current state of the vehicle, 1301 is an acceleration sensor, 1302 is a physical quantity calculation unit that calculates acceleration and speed applied to the bus based on signals from the acceleration sensor, and 1303 is a bus. Vehicle speedometer interface for receiving a signal indicating the current speed of the bus from the current vehicle speedometer, 1304 for acquiring position information (map information, information on the current location), and GPS (Global Positioning System), 1305 for the door A door opening / closing detection interface for taking in / off information from the door part of the bus, 1306 is a side brake state detecting interface for taking in the operation state of the side brake. Each of these 1300 signals (information) is input to a vehicle state determination unit 1310 1310. Based on the information, the state of the bus is grasped and the operation of the antenna outside the vehicle is determined. In this determination method, as shown in the determination table of FIG. 14, a signal to be sent to the control signal generation unit 1320 at the subsequent stage is determined by a combination of signals from the vehicle state detection unit 1300.

  For example, as in 1400 in FIG. 14, “negative acceleration is a or less (no collision), speed (two types) is more than a certain value, GPS position is not near a stop, door is closed, side brake operation is OFF” Determines that “antenna outside the vehicle is OFF”.

  For example, as shown by 1410 in FIG. 14, “negative acceleration is a or less (no collision), speed (two types) is constant or less, GPS position is near a stop, door is open, side brake operation is ON ", The antenna outside the vehicle is ON and the antenna output is 100%".

  For example, as shown by 1420 in FIG. 14, “negative acceleration is a or less (no collision), speed (two types) is constant or less, GPS position is near a stop, door is closed, side brake operation is OFF ", The antenna outside the vehicle is ON and the antenna output is 50%" (because the door is closed).

  Further, for example, when “negative acceleration is a or more (estimated as a collision)” as shown by 1430 in FIG. 14, other conditions are not judged and “outside antenna is OFF” (from abnormal acceleration) Because it seems to stop due to a collision).

  Next, returning to FIG. 13, the determination results from the vehicle state determination unit 1310 are input to the control signal generation unit 1320 at the next stage, and the gain of the variable gain amplifier 1330 is controlled to be the same as the previous determination result. Generate a signal. In this way, it is possible to control the antenna output outside the vehicle according to the operating state of the bus.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment and Example of this invention were described, it is not limited to the said description, A various deformation | transformation is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary.

  The present invention can be applied to an in-vehicle wireless communication system that can change the output of an antenna outside the vehicle based on the running state of the vehicle. Moreover, as a kind of vehicle, it can apply not only to a bus | bath and a train but to a ship, an aircraft, etc.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an in-vehicle wireless LAN system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system which is 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of the conventional vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system. It is a figure for demonstrating the example which mounted the conventional vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system on the sightseeing bus. It is a figure for demonstrating the problem in the example which mounted the conventional vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system on the sightseeing bus. It is a figure for demonstrating the effect of the vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system which is 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example 1 which concerns on the antenna control of the vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system which is 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example 2 which concerns on the antenna control of the vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system which is 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example 3 which concerns on the antenna control of the vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system which is 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example 4 which concerns on the antenna control of the vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system which is 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example 5 which concerns on the antenna control of the vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system which is 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example 6 which concerns on the antenna control of the vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system which is 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system which is an Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the determination table used with the vehicle-mounted wireless LAN system which is an Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Vehicle state detection means 101 Acceleration detection means 102 Physical quantity calculation means 103 Vehicle speed detection means 104 Present location information acquisition means 105 Door opening / closing detection means 110 Vehicle state determination means 120 Control signal generation means 130 Antenna control means 140 In-vehicle wireless LAN access point section (access point)
150 antenna portion 151 outside (external) antenna 152 inside (internal) antenna 160 internet connection means 170 internet 310 internet connection means 320 access point 330 antenna 340 internet 350 image of radio wave emission area 360 wireless LAN client 370 vehicle 400 running Bus 410 Image of radio wave emission area in car 420 Wireless LAN client in car 430 Bus stopped 440 Wireless LAN client in car 450 Wireless LAN client outside car 460 Bus door 470 Tourist spot 700 Control signal generation means 710 Switch 720 Access Point 730 Antenna 731 Outside antenna 732 Inside antenna 800 Control signal generation means 810, 81 Variable gain amplifier 820 Access point 830 Antenna 831 Outside antenna 832 In-vehicle antenna 900 Control signal generation means 910 Directivity control means 920 Access point 930 Antennas 931 and 932 Array antenna 1000 Control signal generation means 1010 Directivity control means 1020 Access point 1030 Directivity Antenna 1100 Control signal generation means 1110 Variable gain amplifier 1120, 1121 Access point 1130 Antenna 1131 Outside antenna 1132 In-vehicle antenna 1140 HUB
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1150 Internet connection means 1200 Control signal generation means 1210 Variable gain amplifier 1220 Access point 1230 Antenna 1300 Vehicle state detection part 1301 Acceleration sensor 1302 Physical quantity calculation part 1303 Vehicle speedometer interface 1304 GPS
1305 Door opening / closing detection interface 1310 Vehicle state determination unit 1320 Control signal generation unit 1330 Variable gain amplifier 1340 Antenna 1341 Outside antenna 1342 In-vehicle antenna 1350 Access point 1360 Internet connection means 1370 Internet 1400, 1410, 1420, 1430 Determination example in determination table

Claims (10)

An in-vehicle wireless LAN system that includes a wireless LAN access point, an Internet connection means, and a wireless LAN antenna and is mounted on a vehicle,
Vehicle state detection means for detecting the current state of the vehicle;
Vehicle state determination means for determining the state of the vehicle based on the detection result of the vehicle state detection means;
Control signal generating means for generating a signal for controlling the operation of the external wireless LAN antenna based on the determination result of the vehicle state determining means;
Antenna control means for controlling the output of the external wireless LAN antenna based on the control signal generated by the control signal generating means;
An in-vehicle wireless LAN system characterized by comprising:   The vehicle state detecting means includes an acceleration detecting means for detecting acceleration applied to the vehicle, a physical quantity calculating means for calculating a predetermined physical quantity based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration detecting means, and a signal from the vehicle speedometer. Vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the speed of the vehicle using, current position information acquiring means for acquiring the current position of the vehicle, door open / close detecting means for detecting the open / closed state of the door of the vehicle, and manual braking of the vehicle are operated. 2. The in-vehicle wireless LAN system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of manual brake state detection means for detecting whether or not the vehicle is in a brake state.   The antenna control means includes a variable gain amplifier, an RF switch, antenna directivity control means for controlling the directivity of the antenna, antenna direction control means for controlling the direction of the antenna, and means for turning on / off the power of the wireless LAN access point 3. The in-vehicle wireless LAN system according to claim 1, comprising at least one of the above.   The in-vehicle wireless LAN system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the acceleration detecting means uses an acceleration sensor.   The in-vehicle wireless LAN system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the current location information acquisition unit uses a GPS (Global Positioning System). A vehicle-mounted wireless LAN control method performed using a wireless LAN access point, an Internet connection means, and a wireless LAN antenna mounted on a vehicle,
A vehicle state detection step for detecting the current state of the vehicle;
A vehicle state determination step for determining a state of the vehicle based on a detection result of the vehicle state detection step;
A control signal generation step for generating a signal for controlling the operation of the wireless LAN antenna for outside the vehicle based on the determination result of the vehicle state determination step;
An antenna control step for controlling the output of the external wireless LAN antenna based on the control signal generated in the control signal generation step;
A method for controlling an in-vehicle wireless LAN, characterized in that:   The vehicle state detecting step detects an acceleration applied to the vehicle, calculates a predetermined physical quantity based on the detected acceleration, and calculates a speed of the vehicle using a signal from a vehicle speedometer. A vehicle speed detecting step for detecting, a current position information acquiring step for acquiring a current position of the vehicle, a door open / close detecting step for detecting an open / closed state of the door of the vehicle, and a manual for detecting whether or not the vehicle manual brake is operating. 7. The on-vehicle wireless LAN control method according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the brake state detection steps is performed.   The antenna control step includes a variable gain amplifier, an RF switch, an antenna directivity control means for controlling the directivity of the antenna, an antenna direction control means for controlling the direction of the antenna, and a means for turning on / off the power of the wireless LAN access point The method of controlling an in-vehicle wireless LAN according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the output of the external wireless LAN antenna is controlled using at least one of the above.   9. The on-vehicle wireless LAN control method according to claim 7, wherein the acceleration detecting step detects an acceleration applied to the vehicle using an acceleration sensor.   The vehicle location wireless LAN according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the current location information acquisition step acquires a current location of the vehicle using a GPS (Global Positioning System). Control method.

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