JP2020182072A - Communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

To reliably transmit position information of a mobile body by using a communication device mounted on the mobile body.SOLUTION: A communication device 100 mounted on a mobile body includes a position information acquisition unit 102 that acquires position information of the mobile body, a first transmission unit 108 that transmits location information to a first external communication device 300 by using a first wireless communication method, a storage unit 103 that stores untransmitted position information from the first transmission unit, and a second transmission unit 109 that transmits the position information to an internal communication device 200 that transmits the position information to the second external communication device 400 using the second wireless communication method that enables wider area communication than the communication method when the amount of stored information, which is the amount of information of the position information stored in the storage unit, is larger than the amount of reference information set on the basis of the amount of information that can be transmitted by using a first wireless communication method.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a communication device mounted on a mobile body and communicates with a communication device outside the vehicle, and more particularly to an in-vehicle communication device mounted on an automobile.

Currently, the development of an in-vehicle communication device that is mounted on a vehicle and communicates with infrastructure equipment such as a roadside machine is underway. Such an in-vehicle communication device is, for example, an ETC (registered trademark) in-vehicle device, and uses a narrow range communication (DSRC: Dedicated Short Range Communications) method to obtain an intelligent transport system (ITS) or an electronic toll collection system. Sends various information about the vehicle to.

The DSRC system is a wireless communication system that is currently being popularized, and the places where roadside units corresponding to the DSRC system are installed are still limited. Further, the communication area by the DSRC method is several meters to several hundreds of meters, and information cannot be transmitted by using the DSRC method while the vehicle is traveling outside the communication area. However, it is desirable that various information about the vehicle is collected without being lost by equipment such as a roadside machine even while the vehicle is traveling outside the communication area.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an on-board unit for uplink transmission of a vehicle traveling history without omission.

JP-A-2017-62608

By the way, in recent years, the IoT (Internet of Things) era has arrived, which creates new added value by connecting all things to a network and exchanging information beyond the conventional usage patterns such as smartphones and mobile phones. And many of these things are out of reach and are characterized by the need for long-term, small amounts of data. In response to this request, eMTC (enhanced Machine Type Communication) advocated by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project), NB-IoT (Narrow Band Internet of Things) optimized for smaller amount of data communication, and Sigfox Specifications such as the developed SIGFOX (registered trademark) and LoRa (registered trademark) developed by Semitech have been established.

As one of the wireless communication systems used by such communication devices for IoT, there is a low power wide area wireless communication (LPWA) system. Since such an LPWA type communication device is capable of long-distance data communication, it can be used for tracking and managing the position of a moving body by transmitting and receiving position information of a moving body such as a person or an object existing in a distant place. can do. In particular, a communication device for IoT that uses a battery or a built-in battery is highly portable and does not require complicated wiring work, so that it can be easily introduced into a mobile body. Therefore, the present inventor has found that there is a possibility that the position information of the vehicle and the like can be reliably collected by using such a communication device for IoT in a section where the in-vehicle communication device cannot communicate with the roadside unit. ..

An object of the present invention is to reliably collect information on a moving body such as a vehicle.

In order to solve the above problems, it is possible to communicate with a first external communication device (300) located outside the moving body and a second external communication device (400) located outside the moving body. The communication device (100) mounted on the mobile body capable of communicating with the internal communication device (200) mounted on the mobile body includes a position information acquisition unit (102) for acquiring the position information of the mobile body. The first transmission unit (108) that transmits the position information by using the first wireless communication method and the position information that has not been transmitted from the first transmission unit are stored in the first external communication device. A reference information amount set based on the storage unit (103) and the amount of information that can be transmitted using the first wireless communication method, which is the amount of information of the location information stored in the storage unit. The internal communication device that transmits the position information to the second external communication device by using the second wireless communication method capable of wide area communication than the first wireless communication method when the number is larger than the above. A second transmission unit (109) for transmitting position information is provided.

According to the communication device of the present invention, a moving body such as a vehicle is formed by combining communication devices using different wireless communication methods and transmitting only information that cannot be transmitted using one communication device using the other communication device. It is possible to surely collect information about.

A block diagram illustrating an in-vehicle communication device and an LPWA communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A flowchart illustrating the operation of the vehicle-mounted communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A flowchart illustrating the operation of the LPWA communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A block diagram illustrating an in-vehicle communication device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. A flowchart illustrating the operation of the vehicle-mounted communication device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The present invention means the invention described in the section of the scope of claims or means for solving the problem, and is not limited to the following embodiments. In addition, at least the words in brackets mean the words and phrases described in the section of claims or means for solving the problem, and are not limited to the following embodiments.
The configuration and method described in the dependent clause of the claims, the configuration and method of the embodiment corresponding to the configuration and method described in the dependent clause, and the configuration and method described only in the embodiment without description in the claims. Is any configuration and method in the present invention. In the present invention, any configuration and method may be used in the sense that the configuration and method described in the embodiment when the claims are broader than the description of the embodiment are also examples of the configuration and method of the present invention. is there. In either case, the description in the independent clause of the claims provides an essential configuration and method of the present invention.
The effects described in the embodiments are effects in the case of having the configuration of the embodiment as an example of the present invention, and are not necessarily the effects of the present invention.
When there are a plurality of embodiments, the configuration disclosed in each embodiment is not closed only in each embodiment, but can be combined across the embodiments. For example, the configuration disclosed in one embodiment may be combined with another embodiment. Further, the disclosed configurations may be collected and combined in each of the plurality of embodiments.
The findings and issues described in the issues to be solved by the invention are not known issues, but are independently discovered by the present inventor, and are facts that affirm the inventive step of the invention together with the constitution and method of the present invention.

(Embodiment 1)
A communication system including the communication device of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The communication device of the present embodiment is a communication device "mounted" on a vehicle which is a "mobile body", such as an ETC (registered trademark) on-board unit, and each of the communication devices shown inside the broken line shown in FIG. The device indicates that it is mounted on the vehicle. However, the communication device of the present embodiment can be mounted on any moving body other than the vehicle.
Here, the "moving body" of the present invention means a movable object, and the moving speed is arbitrary. Of course, it also includes the case where the moving body is stopped. For example, including, but not limited to, automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, ships, aircraft, and objects mounted on them.
The "mounting" of the present invention means that it suffices if it is attached to the moving body so as to move with the moving body, and it includes not only incorporating it as a part of the function of the moving body but also arranging it detachably on the moving body. ..

The in-vehicle communication device of the present embodiment (corresponding to the "communication device" of the present invention) is an "external communication device" (corresponding to the "first external communication device" of the present invention) located outside the broken line, that is, outside the vehicle. Correspondence) and communicate. The in-vehicle communication device 100 further communicates with the inside of the broken line, that is, the internal communication device mounted on the vehicle. This internal communication device is a communication device that communicates with another "external communication device" (corresponding to the "second external communication device" of the present invention) located outside the vehicle.
Here, the "external communication device" of the present invention may be a device having a communication function located outside the mobile body, via a base station capable of communicating with the device, and between the device and the base station. Also includes repeaters.

The external communication device located outside the vehicle and capable of communicating with the in-vehicle communication device 100 is, for example, a roadside device 300 provided along the road. The in-vehicle communication device 100 communicates with the roadside unit 300 by using the DSRC method. The DSRC system is a communication system that uses the 5.8 GHz band, and is used for road-to-vehicle communication between a vehicle and an ITS spot. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle communication device 100 travels in the section provided with the roadside unit 300 capable of communicating by the DSRC method.

An internal communication device mounted on the vehicle and capable of communicating with the in-vehicle communication device 100 is, for example, an LPWA communication device 200. Both the in-vehicle communication device 100 and the LPWA communication device 200 are mounted on the vehicle and are located close to each other. Therefore, the in-vehicle communication device 100 and the LPWA communication device 200 communicate using, for example, a "short-range wireless communication method" or a wired communication method.
Here, the "near field communication method" of the present invention refers to a wireless communication method that covers a reach of about 20 m or less, and includes, for example, Wifi (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), and Bluetooth (registered trademark). , FeliCa (registered trademark), NFC (Near Field Communication), RFID and the like.

The LPWA communication device 200 uses a "low power consumption wide area wireless communication (LPWA) system" (corresponding to the "second wireless communication system" of the present invention) to be a communication device of an LPWA base station 400 located outside the vehicle. It is a communication device that can communicate with. Examples of the low power consumption wide area wireless communication system include eMTC and NB-IoT in 3GPP, SIGFOX and LoRaWAN.
Here, the "low power consumption wide area wireless communication (LPWA) method" of the present invention is a general term for wireless communication methods having low power consumption and a communication distance of a mobile phone level, and the method is not limited.

In the first embodiment shown below, an example in which wireless communication between the vehicle-mounted communication device 100 and the roadside unit 300 is performed by the DSRC method, and wireless communication between the LPWA communication device 200 and the LPWA base station 400 is performed by the LPWA method. explain. However, the wireless communication system used for data communication between the communication device of the present embodiment and the communication device located outside the vehicle is not limited to the DSRC system. Similarly, the wireless communication method used for data communication between the internal communication device mounted on the vehicle and capable of communicating with the communication device of the present embodiment and the communication device located outside the vehicle is limited to the LPWA method. Although not, wireless communication that consumes less power than the wireless communication method used for data communication between the communication device of the present embodiment and a communication device located outside the vehicle and is capable of wide area communication. Use the method.

1. 1. In-vehicle communication device 100
(1) Configuration First, the configuration of the vehicle-mounted communication device 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The in-vehicle communication device 100 is a communication device capable of communicating with the roadside device 300 and the LPWA communication device 200, respectively. The in-vehicle communication device 100 includes a power supply 101, a position information acquisition unit 102, a storage unit 103, a reception unit 104, a determination unit 105, a control unit 106, an activation signal generation unit 107, a first transmission unit 108, and a second transmission unit. It is equipped with 109.

The power supply 101 supplies power to each part of the vehicle-mounted communication device 100. The power supply 101 may be a vehicle ACC (accessory) power supply, an IG (ignition) power supply, or a power supply supplied from a + B power supply directly connected to the vehicle-mounted battery, or may use a primary battery or a secondary battery. .. By supplying power from the power source of the vehicle, it is possible to avoid complicated battery replacement and charging.

The position information acquisition unit 102 is, for example, a global positioning system (GPS) and acquires the position information of the vehicle. Alternatively, the position information acquisition unit 102 may acquire the position information of the vehicle detected by the GPS mounted on the vehicle via the in-vehicle communication network.
The position information acquisition unit 102 acquires the position information of the vehicle at an arbitrary timing. For example, the position information acquisition unit 102 acquires the position information of the vehicle when the vehicle travels a predetermined distance or when the vehicle performs a predetermined operation (for example, a direction change of a predetermined angle or more).

The storage unit 103 stores the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 102. Although the storage unit 103 assumes a random access memory, it may be a hard disk (HDD), a flash memory, or the like. In this case, even if the power is turned off, the data can be saved without being erased.
As will be described later, since the position information stored in the storage unit 103 is deleted when transmitted from the first transmission unit 108 or the second transmission unit 109, the position information stored in the storage unit 103 is not included. This is position information that has not been transmitted from these transmitters.

When the storage unit 103 has a sufficient memory capacity, the storage unit 103 can store all the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 102. However, if the memory capacity of the storage unit 103 is not sufficient and the position information is acquired in excess of the maximum memory capacity that can be stored in the storage unit 103, the newly acquired position information is overwritten on the storage unit 103. It may be saved.

The receiving unit 104 receives the communication connection request transmitted from the roadside machine 300. For example, when a vehicle approaches an entrance or exit of a toll road, a roadside machine 300 provided along a road of a toll road or a main road, and enters the communication area of the roadside machine 300, the receiving unit 104 starts from the roadside machine 300. Receives a connection request using the DSRC method. Alternatively, the receiving unit 103 receives a response message (ack) for the connection request transmitted from the first transmitting unit 108, which will be described later, to the roadside machine 300.
When a connection request or response message is received from the roadside unit 300 and communication between the in-vehicle communication device 100 and the roadside unit 300 becomes possible, the receiving unit 104 further requests to transmit the position information of the vehicle. The information request is received from the roadside machine 300. In addition to the location information request, the receiving unit 104 may receive information on the road on which the vehicle is moving, traffic information on surrounding roads, billing information on toll roads, and the like.

The determination unit 105 compares the stored information amount, which is the "information amount" of the position information stored in the storage unit 103, with the reference information amount set based on the "information amount" that can be transmitted using the DSRC method. Then, it is determined whether or not the stored information amount is "more than" the reference information amount. The amount of stored information can be obtained by monitoring the storage unit 103. Further, a predetermined value is set in advance for the reference information amount.
Here, the "information amount" of the present invention is sufficient as long as it indicates the degree of the magnitude of information, and is not only the amount of information expressed in a predetermined unit (for example, bits, bytes) but also the number of data. There may be.
The “more” of the present invention includes both the case where the same value as the comparison target is included and the case where the value is not included.

The reference information amount may be set based on the amount of information that can be transmitted using the DSRC method, and does not necessarily have to be a value equal to the amount of information that can be transmitted using the DSRC method. For example, the amount of information of road-to-vehicle communication from the in-vehicle communication device to the roadside unit in the ITS spot is 4 kilobytes, but the reference information amount is set to a value of 4 kilobytes or less than 4 kilobytes. Alternatively, the number of logs of location information may be used as the amount of stored information and the amount of reference information.

The control unit 106 reads and deletes the position information stored in the storage unit 103. The control unit 106 further manages the information transmitted from the first transmission unit 108 and the second transmission unit 109, which will be described later.

Specifically, the control unit 106 reads out the position information stored in the storage unit 103 and transmits it to the first transmission unit 108 in accordance with the position information request from the roadside machine 300 received by the reception unit 104. .. The amount of position information that the control unit 106 reads from the storage unit 103 and transmits to the first transmission unit 108 is preferably the amount of information that can be transmitted using the DSRC method.

When it is determined that the amount of stored information is larger than the reference amount of information, the control unit 106 further instructs the activation signal generation unit 107, which will be described later, to generate an activation signal, and stores the information in the storage unit 103. Read the obtained position information. Then, the generated start signal is transmitted to the second transmission unit 109 together with the position information. The amount of position information that the control unit 106 reads from the storage unit 103 and transmits to the second transmission unit 109 is preferably an amount of information that can be transmitted using the LPWA method.

Since the LPWA method has a low communication capacity, the amount of position information that can be transmitted at one time using the LPWA method is limited. Therefore, when it is determined that the stored information amount is larger than the reference information amount, the control unit 106 periodically outputs the position information from the storage unit 103 until the stored information amount is "less than" the reference information amount. It is desirable to read and send. By periodically transmitting the position information via the LPWA communication device 200, more position information is transmitted to the outside of the vehicle, and the position information that is not transmitted is reduced.

When the control unit 106 periodically reads out the position information, it is arbitrary from which position information the position information stored in the storage unit 103 is read out and transmitted. For example, as described above, when the memory capacity of the storage unit 103 is not sufficient, the position information stored in the storage unit 103 may be overwritten by the newly acquired position information and deleted. Therefore, the control unit 106 may read the position information in order from the position information that is likely to be overwritten and sequentially transmit the position information to the second transmission unit 109. For example, the control unit 106 reads the position information in the order of oldest or newest time acquired by the position information acquisition unit 102, and transmits the position information to the second transmission unit 109.
Alternatively, the control unit 106 may periodically transmit the latest position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 102 to the second transmission unit 109 without going through the storage unit 103.

The control unit 106 further deletes the position information read from the storage unit 103 from the storage unit 103. The position information is read from the storage unit 103 and deleted after being transmitted from the first transmission unit 108 to the roadside unit 300 or after being transmitted from the second transmission unit 109 to the LPWA communication device 200. The timing at which the control unit 106 deletes the position information is arbitrary. For example, it may be deleted when the transmission to the roadside unit 300 or the LPWA communication device 200 is completed, or it may be deleted without delay after being read from the storage unit 103.

The start signal generation unit 107 generates a start signal in response to an instruction from the control unit 106. This start signal is a signal for starting the LPWA communication device 200.

The first transmission unit 108 transmits the position information transmitted from the control unit 106 to the roadside unit 300 by using the DSRC method (corresponding to the “first wireless communication method” of the present invention). That is, the first transmission unit 108 transmits the position information according to the position information request from the roadside machine 300.

The second transmission unit 109 transmits the position information transmitted from the control unit 106 and the start signal "together" to the LPWA communication device 200. That is, the second transmission unit 109 transmits the position information and the start signal to the LPWA communication device 200 when the stored information amount is larger than the reference information amount.
Here, "together" of the present invention may be close in time and does not necessarily have to be simultaneous.

When the control unit 106 periodically reads out the position information and transmits the position information, the second transmission unit 109 also periodically transmits the position information and the start signal to the LPWA communication device 200. For example, when the control unit 106 sequentially reads and transmits the position information in the "oldest order" when the time acquired by the position information acquisition unit 102 is "oldest", the second transmission unit 109 also similarly acquires the "oldest time". Location information is sent to.
Sending in the "oldest order" of the present invention means that it is sufficient that the acquired time is transmitted from the past, and it does not matter whether the time is continuous or not. That is, it also includes a case where some selected position information among the plurality of position information stored in the storage unit is transmitted in order from the past one.

When the second transmission unit 109 communicates with the LPWA communication device 200 described later using Bluetooth (registered trademark) as the short-range wireless communication method, the in-vehicle communication device 100 is transmitted from the LPWA communication device 200. It further comprises a second receiver (not shown) that receives the advertising. In this case, the in-vehicle communication device 100 becomes a central (also referred to as a master), the LPWA communication device 200 becomes a peripheral (also referred to as a slave), and the second receiving unit scans the advertising transmitted from the LPWA communication device 200. When the second receiving unit scans the LPWA communication device 200, pairing with the LPWA communication device 200 is executed.
The communication device on the central side consumes more power than the communication device on the peripheral side. Therefore, the power consumption of the LPWA communication device 200, which will be described later, can be suppressed by centralizing the in-vehicle communication device 100 capable of supplying power from the ACC power supply or the IG power supply of the vehicle.

(2) Operation Next, the operation of the in-vehicle communication device 100 will be described with reference to FIG.
In S101, the position information acquisition unit 102 acquires the position information of the vehicle and stores the acquired position information in the storage unit 103. Here, when the vehicle is traveling within the communication range area of the roadside unit 300 and receives the position information request transmitted from the roadside unit 300 (S102: Yes), the vehicle is stored in the storage unit 103 in accordance with the request. The position information is read out and transmitted to the roadside machine 300 using the DSRC method (S103).
On the other hand, in S102, when the position information request from the roadside machine 300 is not received, the determination unit 105 compares the stored information amount with the reference information amount (S104). Here, when the amount of stored information is larger than the amount of reference information, the activation signal generation unit 107 generates an activation signal (S105). Then, arbitrary position information and start signal read from the storage unit 103 are transmitted to the LPWA communication device 200 (S106). Then, the position information transmitted in S103 or S106 is deleted from the storage unit 103 (S107). On the other hand, if the amount of stored information is less than the reference amount of information, the process ends.

In FIG. 2, the vehicle-mounted communication device 100 transmits the position information and the start signal to the LPWA communication device 200 only when the stored information amount is larger than the reference information amount. However, the vehicle-mounted communication device 100 may further generate an activation signal at a predetermined timing and transmit the position information and the activation signal at that time to the LPWA communication device 200. As a predetermined timing, for example, immediately after the vehicle-mounted communication device 100 is started via the ACC power supply or the IG power supply when the vehicle is started, or when the vehicle is completely stopped and the ACC power supply or the IG power supply is turned off. Immediately before the power of the in-vehicle communication device 100 is turned off.

2. LPWA communication device 200
(1) Configuration Next, the configuration of the LPWA communication device 200 will be described with reference to FIG.
The LPWA communication device 200 is a communication device capable of communicating with the above-mentioned in-vehicle communication device 100 and the LPWA base station 400, respectively. The LPWA communication device 200 includes a power supply 201, a reception unit 202, an activation control unit 203, a communication control unit 204, and a transmission unit 205.

The power supply 201 supplies power to each part of the LPWA communication device 200. This power source uses a primary battery or a secondary battery. Therefore, the LPWA communication device 200 can be easily attached to the dashboard of a vehicle or the like without complicated electrical wiring. However, in addition to the primary and secondary batteries, it has a power supply supplied from the vehicle's ACC (accessory) power supply, IG (ignition) power supply, or + B power supply directly connected to the battery mounted on the vehicle. May be good.

The receiving unit 202 receives the position information and the activation signal transmitted from the vehicle-mounted communication device 100.

The start control unit 203 controls the start of the LPWA communication device 200. Specifically, the activation control unit 203 activates the LPWA communication device 200 when the reception unit 202 receives the activation signal from the vehicle-mounted communication device 100.

The communication control unit 204 manages the information transmitted from the transmission unit 205, which will be described later. Specifically, the communication control unit 204 transmits the position information received by the reception unit 202 to the transmission unit 205.

The transmission unit 205 transmits the position information transmitted from the communication control unit 204 to the LPWA base station 400.

(2) Operation Next, the operation of the LPWA communication device 200 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the activation signal is received from the vehicle-mounted communication device 100 (S201: Yes), the activation control unit 203 activates the LPWA communication device 200 (S202). When the LPWA communication device 200 is activated, the position information received together with the activation signal in S201 is transmitted to the LPWA base station 400 (S203). When the transmission to the LPWA base station 400 is completed, the activation control unit sets the LPWA communication device 200 to the power saving mode (S204).

In FIG. 3, the LPWA communication device 200 activates the LPWA communication device only when the start signal is received from the in-vehicle communication device 100, and transmits the received position information together with the start signal to the LPWA base station 400. There is. However, the LPWA communication device 200 may have a built-in GPS (not shown), acquire position information using the built-in GPS at an arbitrary timing, and transmit the position information to the LPWA base station. For example, the activation control unit 203 activates the LPWA communication device 200 at preset predetermined times (for example, 0:00, 6:00, 12:00, and 18:00). Alternatively, the activation control unit 203 sets in advance a cycle (for example, 6 hours) for activating the LPWA communication device 200, and activates the LPWA communication device 200 at a time corresponding to the cycle. When the LPWA communication device 200 is activated, the position information is acquired using the built-in GPS and transmitted to the LPWA base station 400. Then, when the processing of transmitting the position information to the LPWA base station 400 is completed, the activation control unit 203 sets the LPWA communication device 200 to the power saving mode (for example, sleep mode).
In this case, the LPWA communication device 200 does not depend on the in-vehicle communication device 100, automatically starts at a predetermined time to acquire the position information, and transmits the position information to the LPWA base station 400 using the LPWA method. .. Therefore, it is possible to transmit the position information of the vehicle even when the vehicle is completely stopped or when the vehicle is traveling in a section in which the roadside machine 300 corresponding to the DSRC method is not installed.

The roadside unit 300 that has received the position information from the in-vehicle communication device 100 and the LPWA base station 400 that has received the position information from the LPWA communication device 200 may transmit the received position information to a server or the like. The vehicle position information collected on the server in this way can be used, for example, for analysis of traffic information, vehicle management by a rental car operator, and the like.

As described above, in the communication device that transmits the position information to the roadside unit using the DSRC method, when the position information exceeding the amount of information that can be transmitted using the DSRC method is accumulated and stored, among these position information, Some position information cannot be transmitted to the roadside unit, and there is a possibility that the position information of the vehicle collected by the external communication device may be missing.
On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the position information of the vehicle is transmitted to the roadside unit 300 by using the DSRC method, and when the stored information amount is larger than the reference information amount, the LPWA communication device 200 is used. The position information is transmitted to the LPWA base station 400. This makes it possible to transmit position information that cannot be transmitted using the DSRC method, and it is possible to prevent the vehicle position information collected by the external communication device from being lost.

Further, even when communicating with the LPWA base station 400 via the LPWA communication device 200, the LPWA communication device 200 does not use GPS or the like, which consumes a large amount of power, and uses an in-vehicle communication device 100 capable of supplying power from the vehicle. By acquiring the position information, it is possible to suppress the power consumption of the LPWA communication device.

In the above-described embodiment, the communication device of the present embodiment is the vehicle-mounted communication device 100, and an example in which the vehicle-mounted communication device 100 transmits vehicle position information to the roadside unit 300 and the LPWA communication device 200 will be described. There is. However, the communication device of the present embodiment is not limited to the in-vehicle communication device 100, and other in-vehicle devices may be configured to have the functions of the communication device of the present embodiment. For example, the driver status monitor device that monitors the driver status using an in-vehicle camera or sensor has the function of the communication device of the present embodiment, and in addition to or instead of the position information of the vehicle, Data indicating the status of the driver may be transmitted.

(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment, two separate communication devices, that is, an in-vehicle communication device 100 and an LPWA communication device 200 are mounted on the vehicle which is a mobile body, and the position information of the vehicle is transmitted to the LPWA base station via the LPWA communication device 200. The configuration for transmitting to 400 has been described. In the present embodiment, the vehicle is provided with a communication device capable of communicating with the roadside machine 300 using the DSRC method and communicating with the LPWA base station 400 using the LPWA method, which is different from the first embodiment. I will explain mainly.

(1) Configuration FIG. 4 shows an in-vehicle communication device 110 which is a communication device of the second embodiment. The vehicle-mounted communication device 110 of the second embodiment is a communication device mounted on the vehicle, and is configured to be able to communicate with both the roadside unit 300 and the LPWA base station 400.
The in-vehicle communication device 110 includes a power supply 111, a position information acquisition unit 112, a storage unit 113, a reception unit 114, a determination unit 115, a control unit 116, a first transmission unit 117, and a second transmission unit 118.

The power supply 111 supplies power to each part of the vehicle-mounted communication device 110. The power supply 111 includes a vehicle ACC (accessory) power supply, an IG (ignition) power supply, a power supply supplied from a + B power supply directly connected to a battery mounted on the vehicle, or a primary battery or a secondary battery. By supplying power from the power source of the vehicle, it is possible to avoid complicated battery replacement and charging.

The position information acquisition unit 112, the storage unit 113, the reception unit 114, and the determination unit 115 are the same as the position information acquisition unit 102, the storage unit 103, the reception unit 104, and the determination unit 105 included in the vehicle-mounted communication device 100 of the first embodiment. Has the function of. That is, the position information acquisition unit 112 acquires the position information of the vehicle, and the storage unit 113 stores the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 112. The receiving unit 114 receives a communication connection request, a response message, and a position information request transmitted from the roadside unit 300. The determination unit 115 compares the stored information amount with the reference information amount, and determines whether the stored information amount is "more than" the reference information amount.

The control unit 116 reads and deletes the position information stored in the storage unit 113. The control unit 116 further manages the information transmitted from the first transmission unit 117 and the second transmission unit 118, which will be described later.

Specifically, the control unit 116 reads out the position information stored in the storage unit 113 and transmits it to the first transmission unit 117 in accordance with the position information request from the roadside machine 300 received by the reception unit 114. Further, when it is determined that the amount of stored information is larger than the amount of reference information, the control unit 116 reads out the position information stored in the storage unit 113 and transmits it to the second transmission unit 118.
The control unit 116 further deletes the position information read from the storage unit 113.

The first transmission unit 117 has the same function as the transmission unit 108 of the vehicle-mounted communication device 100 of the first embodiment. That is, the first transmission unit 117 transmits the position information to the roadside machine 300 by using the DSRC method in accordance with the position information request from the roadside machine 300.

The second transmission unit 118 of the present embodiment has a function different from that of the second transmission unit of the first embodiment. That is, the second transmission unit 118 of the present embodiment transmits the position information to the LPWA base station 400 by using the LPWA method when the stored information amount is larger than the reference information amount.

(2) Operation FIG. 5 shows the operation of the vehicle-mounted communication device 110 of the second embodiment. Of the steps shown in FIG. 5, the same processes as those shown in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.
FIG. 5 does not include the activation signal generation process (S105) shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the stored information amount and the reference information amount are compared in S104, and when the stored information amount is larger than the reference information amount, only the position information is sent to the LPWA base station 400. (S301).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the position information of the vehicle is transmitted to the roadside machine 300 by using the DSRC method, and when the stored information amount is larger than the reference information amount, the LPWA method is used as the position information. Is transmitted to the LPWA base station 400. This makes it possible to transmit position information that cannot be transmitted using the DSRC method, and it is possible to prevent the vehicle position information collected by the external communication device from being lost.

(Summary)
The features of the communication device according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described above.

Since the terms used in the embodiments are examples, they may be replaced with synonymous terms or terms including synonymous functions.

The block diagram used in the description of the embodiment is a classification and arrangement of the configurations of the communication devices for each function. These functional blocks are realized by any combination of hardware or software. Further, since the block diagram shows the function, the block diagram can be grasped as the disclosure of the invention of the method.

The order of the functional blocks that can be grasped as the processes, flows, and methods described in each embodiment may be changed as long as there are no restrictions such as using the results of other steps in one step.

The terms "first" and "second" used in each embodiment and the present invention are used to distinguish two or more configurations and methods of the same type, and do not limit the order or superiority or inferiority.

In the above embodiment, the case where the communication device of the present invention is mounted on a vehicle, that is, the in-vehicle device has been described, but the present invention may be applied on the premise that a pedestrian possesses the communication device of the present invention. ..

Examples of communication devices include semiconductors, electronic circuits, modules, and ECUs (electronic control units) as parts and semi-finished products. Examples of finished products include drive recorders, car navigation systems, smartphones, personal computers, mobile phones, and personal digital assistants.

In addition, the present invention can be realized not only by the dedicated hardware having the configuration and the function described in each embodiment, but also a program for realizing the present invention recorded on a recording medium such as a memory or a hard disk, and a program thereof. It can also be realized as a combination with an executable dedicated or general-purpose CPU and general-purpose hardware having a memory or the like.

Programs stored in dedicated or general-purpose hardware recording media (external storage devices (hard disks, USB memory, CD / BD, etc.), internal storage devices (RAM, ROM, etc.)) can be recorded via the recording medium. It can also be provided to dedicated or general-purpose hardware from the server via a communication line without using a medium. This ensures that you always have the latest features through program upgrades.

The communication device according to the present invention is not limited to vehicle use, and can be used for managing the position information of an arbitrary moving body.

100,110 In-vehicle communication device (communication device), 102,112 position information acquisition unit, 103,113 storage unit, 104,114 reception unit, 107 start signal generation unit, 108,117 first transmission unit, 109,118th 2 transmitters, 200 LPWA communication equipment (internal communication equipment), 300 roadside unit (first external communication equipment), 400 LPWA base station (second external communication equipment)

Claims (12)

Internal communication mounted on the mobile body capable of communicating with a first external communication device (300) located outside the mobile body and a second external communication device (400) located outside the mobile body. A communication device (100) mounted on the mobile body capable of communicating with the machine (200).
The position information acquisition unit (102) for acquiring the position information of the moving body and
A first transmission unit (108) that transmits the position information to the first external communication device using the first wireless communication method, and
A storage unit (103) that stores the position information that has not been transmitted from the first transmission unit, and
When the stored information amount, which is the information amount of the position information stored in the storage unit, is larger than the reference information amount set with reference to the information amount that can be transmitted by using the first wireless communication method, the said A second method of transmitting the position information to the internal communication device that transmits the position information to the second external communication device by using a second wireless communication method capable of wide area communication than the first wireless communication method. Transmitter (109) and
A communication device. A communication device (110) mounted on the mobile body capable of communicating with the first external communication device (300) and the second external communication device (400) located outside the mobile body.
A position information acquisition unit (112) for acquiring the position information of the moving body, and
A first transmission unit (117) that transmits the position information to the first external communication device using the first wireless communication method, and
A storage unit (113) that stores the position information that has not been transmitted from the first transmission unit, and
When the stored information amount, which is the information amount of the position information stored in the storage unit, is larger than the reference information amount set with reference to the information amount that can be transmitted by using the first wireless communication method, the said A second transmission unit (118) that transmits the position information to the second external communication device by using a second wireless communication method capable of wider area communication than the first wireless communication method.
A communication device. Of the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit, the position information transmitted from the first transmission unit or the second transmission unit is deleted.
The second transmission unit transmits the position information until the stored information amount becomes smaller than the reference information amount.
The communication device according to claim 1 or 2. The second transmission unit transmits the position information in chronological order of the time acquired by the position information acquisition unit.
The communication device according to claim 3. The communication device further includes an activation signal generation unit (107) that generates an activation signal for activating the internal communication device.
The second transmission unit transmits the activation signal together with the position information.
The communication device according to claim 1. The internal communication device is an LPWA communication device capable of communicating with the second external communication device by using the low power consumption wide area wireless communication (LPWA) method which is the second wireless communication method.
The second transmission unit transmits the position information to the LPWA communication device by using a short-range wireless communication method or a wired communication method.
The communication device according to claim 1. The second external communication device is a base station device, and is
The second transmission unit transmits the position information to the base station apparatus by using the low power consumption wide area wireless communication (LPWA) method, which is the second wireless communication method.
The communication device according to claim 2. The first external communication device is a roadside unit provided along the road.
The first transmission unit transmits the position information to the roadside machine by using the narrow range communication (DSRC) method, which is the first wireless communication method.
The communication device according to claim 1 or 2. Internal communication mounted on the mobile body capable of communicating with a first external communication device (300) located outside the mobile body and a second external communication device (400) located outside the mobile body. A communication method of a communication device (100) mounted on the mobile body capable of communicating with the machine (200).
Acquire the position information of the moving body and
The acquired position information is saved in the storage unit,
The location information is transmitted to the first external communication device by using the first wireless communication method.
When the stored information amount, which is the information amount of the position information stored in the storage unit, is larger than the reference information amount set with reference to the information amount that can be transmitted by using the first wireless communication method, the said The position information is transmitted to the internal communication device that transmits the position information to the second external communication device by using the second wireless communication method capable of wide area communication than the first wireless communication method.
The transmitted position information is deleted from the storage unit.
Communication method. It is possible to communicate with a first external communication device (300) located outside the mobile body and a second external communication device (400) located outside the mobile body, and internal communication mounted on the mobile body. A communication control program executed by a communication device (100) mounted on the mobile body capable of communicating with the machine (200).
Acquire the position information of the moving body and
The acquired position information is saved in the storage unit,
The location information is transmitted to the first external communication device by using the first wireless communication method.
When the stored information amount, which is the information amount of the position information stored in the storage unit, is larger than the reference information amount set with reference to the information amount that can be transmitted by using the first wireless communication method, the said The position information is transmitted to the internal communication device that transmits the position information to the second external communication device by using the second wireless communication method capable of wide area communication than the first wireless communication method.
The transmitted position information is deleted from the storage unit.
Communication control program. It is a communication method of a communication device (110) mounted on the mobile body, which can communicate with a first external communication device (300) and a second external communication device (400) located outside the mobile body. ,
Acquire the position information of the moving body and
The acquired position information is saved in the storage unit,
The location information is transmitted to the first external communication device by using the first wireless communication method.
When the stored information amount, which is the information amount of the position information stored in the storage unit, is larger than the reference information amount set with reference to the information amount that can be transmitted by using the first wireless communication method, the said The position information is transmitted to the second external communication device by using the second wireless communication method capable of wide area communication than the first wireless communication method.
The transmitted position information is deleted from the storage unit.
Communication method. A communication control program executed by a communication device mounted on the mobile body, which can communicate with a first external communication device and a second external communication device located outside the mobile body.
Acquire the position information of the moving body and
The acquired position information is saved in the storage unit,
The location information is transmitted to the first external communication device by using the first wireless communication method.
When the stored information amount, which is the information amount of the position information stored in the storage unit, is larger than the reference information amount set with reference to the information amount that can be transmitted by using the first wireless communication method, the said The position information is transmitted to the second external communication device by using the second wireless communication method capable of wide area communication than the first wireless communication method.
The transmitted position information is deleted from the storage unit.
Communication control program.