JP2022116121A - Server, communication system, communication method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a server capable of suppressing rapid increase in downlink traffic from a base station of mobile communication and distributing information through the base station, to a plurality of mobile bodies moving in a target distribution area.

SOLUTION: A server determines a distribution area in which a plurality of mobile bodies of an information distribution target is located, determines a mobile body which is subjected to unicast transmission and specifies a transmission destination from the server via a base station of mobile communication to transmit information on the basis of location information of the plurality of mobile bodies located in the distribution area, from the plurality of mobile bodies in the distribution area, and transmits information to the mobile body subjected to unicast transmission via the base station of mobile communication.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

COPYRIGHT: (C)2022,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a server, a communication system, a communication device, a communication method, and a program that can be used for distributing information to mobile objects such as a plurality of vehicles.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system is known in which direct wireless communication is performed between mobile bodies such as a plurality of vehicles. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system that includes a plurality of mobile station communication devices each having a wide-area communication terminal and a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device, and a base station communication device capable of wide-area communication with the wide-area communication terminal. Have been described.

JP 2013-118522 A

However, in the conventional system described above, if information is to be transmitted in a short period of time from a base station communication device to each of a plurality of mobile station communication devices as destinations, the downlink from the base station communication device (radio communication repeater) Link traffic can spike in a short period of time. Further, when a plurality of vehicles attempt to relay information through inter-vehicle communication, there is a risk that the relay of the information may be interrupted depending on the inter-vehicle distance.

A server according to an aspect of the present invention is a server that distributes information to a plurality of mobile bodies, and includes a distribution area determination unit that determines a distribution area in which a plurality of mobile bodies that are targets of information distribution are located; a transmission target determination unit that selects and determines mobile units that are targets for unicast transmission via a mobile communication base station based on location information of the plurality of mobile units located within an area; and an information transmission unit that unicast-transmits the information to the mobile object to be unicast-transmitted via the base station.

A server according to another aspect of the present invention is a server that distributes information to a plurality of moving bodies, and includes a distribution area determination unit that determines a distribution area in which a plurality of moving bodies to which information is to be distributed are located. a plurality of types of distribution methods including at least wireless communication via a mobile communication base station based on at least one of the content of information to be distributed and location information of the plurality of mobiles located within the distribution area a selection unit for selecting a distribution method used when distributing the information to each of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area; and an information distribution unit that distributes the information to the plurality of moving bodies.
The multiple types of distribution methods may include a first distribution method and a second distribution method. A first distribution method selects and determines mobile units to be subjected to unicast transmission via a mobile communication base station based on position information of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area, and This is a delivery method in which the information is unicast-transmitted to the mobile object to be unicast-transmitted via a base station for mobile communication. A second distribution method is a distribution method in which the information is unicast-transmitted to each of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area via the base station.

In the server, the information received by the mobile object for unicast transmission may be broadcast by direct wireless communication to other mobile objects located near the mobile object for unicast transmission.
In the server, the information to be transmitted to the mobile object subject to unicast transmission may include transfer necessity information indicating whether or not to transfer the information to the surrounding mobile object by broadcast transmission.
In the server, the mobiles targeted for unicast transmission are at least mobiles in which other mobiles capable of direct wireless communication are not located nearby, and mobiles that do not have a direct wireless communication function between mobiles. One may be included.
In the server, the targets of unicast transmission from the server via the base station include the roadside communication relay devices provided around the movement route of the distribution area, and the plurality of roadside communication relay devices located within the distribution area. and the position information of the roadside communication relay device, the mobile body to be subjected to the unicast transmission may be selected and determined.
In the server, at least one of a communicable distance and communication power of direct wireless communication between mobiles, a spatial density of the plurality of mobiles, and a time zone is used to determine the mobiles to be the targets of unicast transmission. may
In the server, the information distributed to the plurality of mobile units may include at least one of time stamp information and information enabling identification of necessity of output of distribution information.
an information acquisition unit configured to receive and acquire, in the server, information on the position and speed of the mobile units and whether there is a direct wireless communication function between the mobile units from the plurality of mobile units via the base station; An information storage section for storing position information of each moving body may be provided.
In the server, the mobile object may be a vehicle traveling on a road.
The server includes a dangerous event information receiving unit that receives information on the dangerous event from a moving object that has detected a dangerous event that has occurred in an area in which the plurality of moving objects is moving, and the information to be distributed is the The information may be dangerous event information, and the distribution area may be an area on the upstream side in the moving direction of the moving body from the position where the dangerous event occurs.

A communication system according to still another aspect of the present invention includes any of the servers described above and a base station for mobile communication.
The communication system further includes a roadside communication relay device provided in the vicinity of the moving route of the mobile body and capable of unicast transmission of information from the server via the base station, wherein information received by the roadside communication relay device is The information may be broadcast by direct wireless communication to mobile units located around the roadside communication relay device.

A communication device according to still another aspect of the present invention is a communication device provided in a mobile body, wherein the first wireless communication unit communicates with a server via a base station for mobile communication and a peripheral mobile body. a second wireless communication unit that performs direct wireless communication with the server, and the delivery information from the server, and whether or not to perform the transfer of broadcasting the delivery information to mobile bodies in the vicinity through the direct wireless communication. When the transfer necessity information indicates that transfer is necessary, the distribution information is broadcast to surrounding moving bodies through the direct wireless communication, and when the transfer necessity information indicates that transfer is not necessary, the direct wireless communication. and an information processing control unit that controls not to perform broadcast transmission of the distribution information by.

A communication device according to still another aspect of the present invention is a communication device provided in a mobile body, wherein the first wireless communication unit communicates with a server via a base station for mobile communication and a peripheral mobile body. receiving the first distribution information transmitted from the server by the first wireless communication unit and the first distribution information transmitted from the server by the second wireless communication unit and transferred from the surrounding mobile body by the second wireless communication unit receiving the second distribution information, comparing the first distribution information and the second distribution information, storing the first distribution information and the second distribution information when the comparison result does not match, and the comparison result matches In the case of (1), an information processing control unit that performs control such that one of the first distribution information and the second distribution information is discarded and the other is stored.

A communication device according to still another aspect of the present invention is a communication device provided in a mobile body, comprising: a first wireless communication unit communicating with a server via a mobile communication base station; a second wireless communication unit that performs direct wireless communication with the roadside communication relay device that is connected to the roadside communication relay device; receiving the second distribution information transferred from the roadside communication relay device, comparing the distribution information received from the server with the distribution information received from the roadside communication relay device, and if the two pieces of distribution information do not match an information processing control unit that stores the two pieces of distribution information, and controls to discard one of the two pieces of distribution information and store the other when the two pieces of distribution information match.

A communication method according to still another aspect of the present invention is a communication method for distributing information to a plurality of mobile bodies, comprising: determining a distribution area in which a plurality of mobile bodies targeted for information distribution are located; selecting and determining mobile units to be subjected to unicast transmission via a base station for mobile communication based on location information of the plurality of mobile units located within a distribution area; and base station for mobile communication. and unicasting the information to the mobiles to be unicasted via.

A communication method according to still another aspect of the present invention is a communication method for distributing information to a plurality of mobile bodies, comprising determining a distribution area in which a plurality of target mobile bodies to which information is to be distributed are located. a plurality of types of distribution methods including at least wireless communication via a mobile communication base station based on at least one of the content of information to be distributed and location information of the plurality of mobiles located within the distribution area selecting a distribution method to be used when distributing the information to each of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area; and using the selected wireless distribution method via the base station. and distributing the information to the plurality of mobiles.

A program according to still another aspect of the present invention is a program executed by a computer or a processor provided in an apparatus for distributing information to a plurality of mobile bodies, wherein the distribution target mobile bodies are located. Selecting and determining mobile units to be subjected to unicast transmission via a base station for mobile communication based on a program code for determining an area and location information of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area program code; and program code for unicast transmitting the information to the mobile object for unicast transmission via the base station of the mobile communication.

A program according to still another aspect of the present invention is a program executed by a computer or processor provided in an apparatus for distributing information to a plurality of mobile bodies, wherein the plurality of mobile bodies to which information is to be distributed are located. a program code for determining a distribution area, and at least one of the content of information to be distributed and positional information of the plurality of mobiles positioned within the distribution area, wirelessly via a mobile communication base station program code for selecting a distribution method used when distributing the information to each of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area from a plurality of types of distribution methods including at least communication; and the selected wireless distribution method. and program code for distributing the information to the plurality of mobiles via the base station using a.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, it is possible to distribute information via a base station to a plurality of mobile units moving in a target distribution area while suppressing a rapid increase in downlink traffic from a base station for mobile communication. .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information distribution system for distributing dangerous event information according to this embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of main functions of the server according to the embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of main functions of the vehicle communication device according to the present embodiment; FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of dangerous event information distribution processing according to the embodiment; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the overall configuration of the information distribution system according to the embodiment; FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing another example of delivery processing of dangerous event information according to the present embodiment; FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another example of main functions of the server according to the embodiment; FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing still another example of the overall configuration of the information distribution system according to the present embodiment; FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing still another example of the delivery processing of dangerous event information according to the present embodiment;

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information distribution system for distributing dangerous event information according to this embodiment. In the information distribution system of the present embodiment, one vehicle 31 of vehicles 31 to 38 and 41 to 49 as a plurality of moving bodies traveling in lanes 91 and 92 of a road 90 as a movement route has detected a dangerous event. When detected, dangerous event information is distributed to a plurality of following vehicles 32 to 38 traveling in a predetermined distribution area A behind the vehicle 31 that has detected the dangerous event to quickly notify the occurrence of the dangerous event. is possible. In particular, the information distribution system of this embodiment is suitable for a case where, when a large number of vehicles are traveling on an expressway, it is necessary to quickly distribute and inform the vehicles behind of information on a dangerous event that has occurred in front. .

Here, a dangerous event is an event that may affect a vehicle traveling on the location where it occurs. These include stopped vehicles, reverse-running vehicles, landslides, floods, and local torrential rains.

Vehicles in the present embodiment are automobiles such as passenger cars, trucks, and buses, and the present invention is not limited to the type and number of vehicles. The present invention can also be applied to a case in which the mobile object to which information is to be distributed is a mobile object other than a vehicle, such as an aircraft or a ship that moves along a set movement route in the sky or on water.

In FIG. 1, the information distribution system of this embodiment includes a server 10 that distributes dangerous event information to a plurality of vehicles traveling on a road 90 . The server 10 of the present embodiment is provided, for example, in the base station 16 of the mobile communication network 15, and performs various data processing operations transmitted and received between the communication devices of the vehicles 31 to 38 and 41 to 49 via the base station 16. It is an MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) device capable of performing The server 10, which is an MEC device, may be provided at a node between the base station 16 and the core network of the mobile communication network 15 or outside the core network.

A base station 16 forms one or more cells (sectors, also called sector cells). The cells may be two-dimensionally formed on the ground or the sea, or three-dimensionally formed from the sky toward the ground or the sea. A cell may be a macrocell, a small cell, a femtocell, a picocell, a large cell, and so on. A plurality of cells may constitute a cellular structure distributed so as to be adjacent to each other two-dimensionally or three-dimensionally, or may constitute a hierarchical cell structure in which a part or all of them overlap hierarchically. . The base station 16 is a macrocell base station, a small cell base station, a femtocell base station, a picocell base station, a large cell base station, a fixed base station fixedly installed on the ground or the like, or a mobile station that can move on the ground, on the sea, in the sky, or the like. type base station or the like. The base station 16 may be a wireless communication device called eNodeB (evolved Node B: eNB), gNodeB (gNB), en-NodeB (en-gNB), access point, or the like.

The communication devices of the vehicles 31 to 38 and 41 to 49 are provided with user equipment (hereinafter referred to as "UE") that constitutes a network communication unit that can be used as a subscriber of mobile communication services. The UE may be a wireless communication device also called a user terminal, terminal, terminal device, mobile station, mobile station, or the like. Each of the UEs of the vehicles 31 to 38 and 41 to 49 may be a device that is carried by the user in each vehicle, or a device that is installed in each vehicle (for example, it is incorporated as part of the navigation device. equipment).

UEs of vehicles 31 to 38 and 41 to 49 can communicate with the server 10 via the base station 16, and transmit vehicle information to the server 10 periodically or irregularly. The vehicle information includes, for example, position information indicating the current positions of the vehicles 31 to 38 and 41 to 49 (UE), velocity V of the vehicles 31 to 38 and 41 to 49 (UE), and vehicle identification information (vehicle ID). , including information on the presence or absence of vehicle-to-vehicle communication functions. The velocities V of the vehicles 31-38, 41-49 can be obtained from, for example, the drive control device of the vehicle. The speed V of the vehicles 31 to 38, 41 to 49 (UE) may be calculated based on the time change (movement distance and movement time) of the position information in the movement history information recorded in each UE of the vehicle. .

The frequency of transmission of vehicle information from the UEs of the vehicles 31 to 38 and 41 to 49 to the server 10 is changed according to the occurrence situation of dangerous events occurring on the road 90 (for example, past occurrence probability, time zone, area). may For example, the transmission frequency of vehicle information may be set lower on roads where the probability of occurrence of dangerous events is low, and the frequency of transmission of vehicle information may be set higher than normal on roads where the probability of occurrence of dangerous events is high. In addition, the transmission frequency of vehicle information is set to be low in time zones or areas where the frequency of occurrence of dangerous events is low, and the frequency of transmission of vehicle information is set to be higher than in normal times in time zones or areas where the frequency of occurrence of dangerous events is high. May be set.

Further, some of the communication devices of the vehicles 31-38 and 41-49 have a function of direct communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) with other vehicles in the vicinity. For example, among the plurality of vehicles 31 to 38 running on the lane 91 in FIG. ) does not have the function of

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication uses radio waves such as microwaves and millimeter waves, for example. The frequency of inter-vehicle communication may be, for example, several hundred MHz lower than 1 GHz or a high frequency band of 1 GHz or higher. In addition, the frequency of inter-vehicle communication is 700 MHz band (715 MHz to 725 MHz), 5.8 GHz band (5770 MHz to 5850 MHz) and LTE-V2X Sidelink ( It may be the 5.9 GHz band (5850 MHz to 5925 MHz) used in PC-5). A plurality of antennas having predetermined beam widths may also be provided for inter-vehicle communication. For example, the vehicles 31, 33 to 38 have directional antennas for inter-vehicle communication with the vehicle in front, directional antennas for inter-vehicle communication with the rear vehicle, and directional antennas for inter-vehicle communication with the vehicle on the right side. An antenna and a directional antenna for inter-vehicle communication with the vehicle on the left side.

In addition, the information distribution system provides map information including road information such as the position, shape, width W of road 90, lanes 91 and 92, signal installation position, crosswalk position presence/absence of median strips, and presence/absence of roadside guardrails. is provided with a map server 11 that manages the In the example of FIG. 1, the map server 11 is provided in the mobile communication network 15, but the map server 11 is provided in a MEC device provided in the base station 16 or in a node between the base station 16 and the core network of the mobile communication network 15. It may be configured with an MEC device. Also, the map server 11 may be integrated with the server 10 .

In FIG. 1, for example, when a plurality of vehicles 31 to 38 are traveling on one lane 91 of a road 90 to the right in the drawing, and the leading vehicle 31 detects a dangerous event, the information on the dangerous event is transmitted to the following vehicle. There is a case where it is desired to notify the vehicles 32 to 38 by promptly distributing them. As a method of notifying the information of the dangerous event, there is an information distribution method of relaying the information of the dangerous event from the leading vehicle 31 to the following vehicles 32 to 38 by using direct communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication), and a cellular communication method. An information distribution method is conceivable in which dangerous event information uploaded from the leading vehicle 31 is transmitted to the following vehicles 32 to 38 using a network.

However, in the information distribution method using direct communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication), all vehicles in the information relay range must have a direct communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) function, and direct communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) ) If the vehicle to be relayed does not exist within the possible range, the relay of information will be cut off.

Information distribution methods using the cellular network include a broadcast communication method and a unicast communication method. The broadcast communication method is a method of simultaneously transmitting and distributing information to all UEs located in a cell of a certain base station. With this method, it is necessary to secure a radio band in advance regardless of whether broadcasting is performed or not, and as a result, the radio band that can be assigned to unicast communication is reduced. On the other hand, the unicast communication scheme is a scheme that secures a radio band only when necessary and communicates with each of a plurality of UEs individually. In this method, the number of UEs that can communicate per unit time is limited, and if information is to be distributed to UEs in many vehicles in a short time (for example, 1 to 2 seconds) by unicast communication, the base station 16 There is a risk that the downlink traffic from UEs will suddenly increase in a short period of time, affecting UEs of other general users.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, while suppressing a rapid increase in downlink traffic from the base station 16, a dangerous event is sent to a plurality of vehicles 32 moving in the distribution area A behind the leading vehicle 31 that detected the dangerous event. In order to distribute information quickly, information on dangerous events is distributed using a hybrid information distribution method that combines unicast communication and broadcast communication.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of main functions of the server 10 according to this embodiment. In FIG. 2 , the server 10 includes an information transmission section 100 , a storage section 110 and an information distribution control section 120 . The information transmission unit 100 can unicast-transmit dangerous event information to vehicles targeted for unicast transmission via the base station 16 under the control of the control unit 125, which will be described later. .

The storage unit 110 stores map information including road-related information such as the position, shape, width W of the road 90, lanes 91 and 92, intersections, signal installation positions, and crosswalk positions, as well as information necessary for dangerous event information distribution control. Store other data. The map information stored in the storage unit 110 can be obtained from the map server 11 .

The information distribution control unit 120 includes a dangerous event information reception unit 121 , a vehicle information acquisition unit 122 as a moving object information acquisition unit, a distribution area determination unit 123 , a transmission target determination unit 124 and a control unit 125 . The vehicle information may include information on the output of at least one of a gyroscope, an acceleration sensor, a speed sensor, and a magnetic sensor provided in the vehicle.

The dangerous event information receiving unit 121 receives dangerous event information via the base station 16 from the vehicle 31 that has detected a dangerous event that has occurred in an area where a plurality of vehicles are moving.

The vehicle information acquisition unit 122 receives and acquires vehicle information including the current position and moving speed of one or more vehicles traveling on the road 90 via the base station 16 . The vehicle information may include information regarding the presence or absence of a direct wireless communication (inter-vehicle communication) function between vehicles.

The distribution area determining unit 123 determines a distribution area A in which a plurality of vehicles 32 to 38 to which the dangerous event information received from the vehicle 31 is distributed is located. The distribution area A is, for example, an area on the upstream side in the vehicle movement direction (for example, an area up to a predetermined distance behind the vehicle 31) from the position where the dangerous event occurred.

A transmission target determination unit 124 selects vehicles 32, 34, and 38 for unicast transmission via a mobile communication base station 16 based on position information of a plurality of vehicles 32 to 38 located within the distribution area A. Choose and decide. Vehicles targeted for unicast transmission include, for example, at least vehicles 32 that are not surrounded by other vehicles capable of direct wireless communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) and vehicles that do not have a direct wireless communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) function. including one. At least one of the communicable distance and communication power of direct wireless communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication), the spatial density of a plurality of vehicles, and the time zone may be used to determine the vehicle for unicast transmission.

The control unit 125 controls the information transmitting unit 100 so as to unicast the dangerous event information to the vehicles 32 , 34 , 38 that are the targets of unicast transmission via the base station 16 . The information to be transmitted to the vehicles 32, 34, 38 subject to unicast transmission may include forwarding necessity information indicating whether or not to perform forwarding by broadcast transmission of dangerous event information to vehicles in the surrounding area of the vehicle. Moreover, the dangerous event information may include at least one of time stamp information, which is information on the time when the dangerous event occurred, and information capable of identifying whether or not to output the dangerous event distribution information.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of main functions of the communication device 300 of the vehicles 31-38, 41-49 according to this embodiment. In FIG. 3 , the communication device 300 includes a first wireless communication unit 310 , a second wireless communication unit 320 , an information processing control unit 330 and a dangerous event detection unit 350 .

The first wireless communication unit 310 can perform cellular network communication to communicate with the server 10 via the mobile communication base station 16 .
The second wireless communication unit 320 performs direct wireless communication with vehicles in the vicinity and with a roadside communication relay device (hereinafter referred to as "RSU (Road Side Unit)") provided around the road 90. at least one of direct wireless communication in the

The information processing control unit 330 instructs the server 10 whether or not to transmit dangerous event information, which is distribution information, and the dangerous event information to surrounding vehicles by direct wireless communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication). Receives information on whether or not transfer is necessary, and if the information indicates that transfer is required, broadcasts dangerous event information to nearby vehicles through direct wireless communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication), and if the information indicates that transfer is not required, It is possible to control not to broadcast dangerous event information by direct wireless communication (inter-vehicle communication).

Further, the information processing control unit 330 receives the first distribution information (dangerous event information) transmitted from the server 10 by the first wireless communication unit 310 and transferred from the surrounding vehicles by the second wireless communication unit 320. The second distribution information (dangerous event information) is received, the first distribution information and the second distribution information are compared, and if the comparison result does not match, the first distribution information and the second distribution information are stored in the storage unit 340. If the comparison result is a match, either one of the first distribution information and the second distribution information may be discarded and the other may be stored in the storage unit 340 .

The information processing control unit 330 also receives distribution information (dangerous event information) transmitted from the server 10 via the first wireless communication unit 310, and receives distribution information (dangerous event information) transferred from the RSU via the second wireless communication unit 320. event information) is received, the distribution information (dangerous event information) received from the server 10 is compared with the distribution information (dangerous event information) received from the RSU, and if the two distribution information do not match, the two distribution information It may be controlled to store in the storage unit, and when the two pieces of distribution information match, one of the two pieces of distribution information is discarded and the other is stored.

The dangerous event detection unit 350 is configured using, for example, a camera as imaging means and an image processing unit that determines the occurrence of a dangerous event based on the image taken by the camera, and detects a dangerous event that has occurred around the vehicle. do. The dangerous event detection unit 350 may be configured by an operation input unit that is operated by the driver who has noticed the occurrence of a dangerous event to input information on the occurrence of the dangerous event.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of dangerous event information delivery processing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 shows an example in which the leading vehicle 31 traveling in one lane 91 of the road 90 in FIG. 1 detects a dangerous event.
In FIG. 4, the server 10 stores the position, shape, width W of the road 90, lanes 91 and 92, intersections, signal installation positions, pedestrian crossing positions, presence/absence of median strips, roadside guardrails, etc. for areas to be managed. Map information including information about roads such as the presence or absence of roads is received from the map server 11 (S101). Further, the server 10 regularly or irregularly receives vehicle information at a predetermined frequency for a plurality of vehicles including the vehicles 31 to 38 and 41 to 49 traveling on the road 90 to be managed (S102).

Next, when the vehicle 31 detects a dangerous event, it transmits information on the dangerous event to the server 10 via the base station 16 (S103, S104).

Next, when the server 10 receives the dangerous event information from the vehicle 31, the server 10 determines the distribution area A for distributing the dangerous event information based on the content of the dangerous event, the position information of the vehicle traveling on the road 90, and the like. (S105). Further, the server 10 selects vehicles 32, 34, 38 for unicast transmission via the mobile communication base station 16 based on the position information of the plurality of vehicles 32 to 38 located within the distribution area A. (S106).

Next, the server 10 unicasts the dangerous event information to the vehicles 32, 34, 38 that are the targets of unicast transmission via the base station 16 (S107).
The vehicle 32 does not transfer dangerous event information because there are no other vehicles in the vehicle-to-vehicle communication range. The server 10 may add transfer necessity information in unicast communication to the vehicle 32, and the vehicle 32 may not transfer dangerous event information based on the information.
Since there are other vehicles 33 and 35 in the vehicle-to-vehicle communication range B, the vehicle 34 transfers the dangerous event information to the vehicles 33 and 35 by broadcasting the vehicle-to-vehicle communication (S108). When the server 10 performs unicast communication to the vehicles 33 and 35, it adds transfer necessity information, and the vehicles 33 and 35 transfer dangerous event information by broadcasting inter-vehicle communication based on the information. good too.
The dangerous event information from the vehicle 34 is also received by the vehicles 43 and 45 traveling in the adjacent lane 92, but the vehicles 43 and 45 output dangerous event information because the information is not distributed to their own vehicle. may be discarded without
Since there are other vehicles 36 and 37 in the vehicle-to-vehicle communication range B, the vehicle 38 transfers the dangerous event information to the vehicles 36 and 37 by broadcasting the vehicle-to-vehicle communication (S109). When the server 10 performs unicast communication to the vehicles 36 and 37, it adds transfer necessity information, and the vehicles 36 and 37 transfer dangerous event information by broadcasting inter-vehicle communication based on the information. good too.

The dangerous event information received by each of the vehicles 32 to 38 is displayed as image information on the display section, or output as sound information from an audio output section such as a speaker to notify the driver. Dangerous event information may be input to the drive control unit of each vehicle and used for vehicle control.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the overall configuration of the information distribution system according to this embodiment. In addition, in FIG. 5, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as in FIG. 1 described above, and the description thereof is omitted. In the information distribution system of FIG. 5, when there is an RSU 17 capable of direct wireless communication in the distribution area A, the RSU 17 broadcasts dangerous event information to some vehicles in the distribution area A. In the example of FIG. 5, since four vehicles 35 to 38 are present within the direct wireless communication range C of the RSU 17, the RSU 17 broadcasts dangerous event information to the vehicles 35 to 38. FIG.

Since the vehicle 35 receives the dangerous event information transferred from the RSU 17 and the dangerous event information transferred from the vehicle 34, if both pieces of dangerous event information overlap, one of the dangerous event information The event information may be discarded, and the other dangerous event information may be stored and output.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing another example of dangerous event information distribution processing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is an example of using the RSU 17 of FIG. In FIG. 6, the description of the parts common to FIG. 4 is omitted.
In FIG. 6, after determining the distribution area A (S205), the server 10, based on the location information of the plurality of vehicles 32 to 38 located in the distribution area A and the information of the surrounding RSUs 17, Vehicles 32, 34 and RSU 17 for unicast transmission via base station 16 are selected and determined (S206).

Next, the server 10 unicasts the dangerous event information to the vehicles 32, 34 and the RSU 17, which are the targets of unicast transmission, via the base station 16 (S207, S208).
The vehicle 32 does not transfer dangerous event information because there are no other vehicles in the vehicle-to-vehicle communication range.
Since there are other vehicles 33 and 35 in the vehicle-to-vehicle communication range B, the vehicle 34 transfers the dangerous event information to the vehicles 33 and 35 by broadcasting the vehicle-to-vehicle communication (S209). When the server 10 performs unicast communication to the vehicles 33 and 35, it adds transfer necessity information, and the vehicles 33 and 35 transfer dangerous event information by broadcasting inter-vehicle communication based on the information. good too.
Since the vehicles 36, 37, 38 are present in the surrounding range C where direct wireless communication is possible, the RSU 17 transfers the dangerous event information to the vehicles 36, 37, 38 by direct wireless communication broadcast transmission (S210).

5 and 6, since the dangerous event information transmitted from the RSU 17 also reaches the vehicle 35, the vehicle 35 compares the dangerous event information received from the RSU 17 with the dangerous event information received from the vehicle 34. (S211), and if both pieces of dangerous event information overlap (S212), one piece of dangerous event information is discarded (S212), and the other piece of dangerous event information is stored and output. ing.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another example of main functions of the server 10 according to this embodiment. FIG. 7 shows an example further provided with a distribution method selection unit 126 for selecting a distribution method for distributing dangerous event information. In addition, in FIG. 7, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those in FIG. 2 described above, and the description thereof is omitted.

In FIG. 7, a distribution method selection unit 126 selects a distribution method via a mobile communication base station 16 based on at least one of the content of dangerous event information to be distributed and the location information of a plurality of vehicles located within a distribution area A. A distribution method used when distributing the dangerous event information to each of the plurality of vehicles 32 to 38 located within the distribution area A is selected from a plurality of types of distribution methods including at least wireless communication. For example, the multiple types of distribution methods to be selected by the distribution method selection unit 126 combine unicast transmission from the base station 16 and broadcast transmission from the vehicle or RSU shown in FIGS. and a second distribution method (see FIG. 8) in which information is distributed only by unicast transmission from the base station 16. FIG. For example, according to the urgency of the dangerous event detected by the vehicle 31, the distribution method selection unit 126 selects a distribution method from the first distribution method and the second distribution method, and distributes the dangerous event information to the distribution area A. It is delivered to the vehicles 32 to 38 that

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing still another example of dangerous event information distribution processing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 selects the first distribution method or the second distribution method according to the details of the dangerous event detected by the leading vehicle 31 traveling in one lane 91 of the road 90 in FIG. This is an example of distributing In FIG. 9, the description of the parts common to FIG. 4 is omitted.
In FIG. 9, the server 10 determines the distribution area A (S305), and then, based on the content of the dangerous event detected by the vehicle 31, the first distribution method (hybrid transmission method) or the second distribution method (unicast transmission method). transmission method) is selected (S308).

For example, if the dangerous event detected by the vehicle 31 is a highly urgent dangerous event, the server 10 selects the above-described second distribution method (unicast transmission method), are determined to be unicast transmission targets (S307), and dangerous event information is unicast transmitted to all of the vehicles 32 to 38 via the base station 16 as shown in FIG. 8 (S308).

On the other hand, if the dangerous event detected by the vehicle 31 is a less urgent dangerous event, the server 10 selects the first distribution method (hybrid transmission method) and distributes the distribution area A as in the case of FIG. Vehicles 32, 34 and 38 among vehicles 32 to 38 existing within the vehicle are determined as targets of unicast transmission (S309), and as shown in FIG. Unicast transmission of the event information is performed (S310).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, some of the vehicles (moving bodies) 32 to 38 that are present in the distribution area A to which dangerous event information is distributed are selected. By unicasting the dangerous event information via the base station 16 only to the vehicles 32, 34, 38, the risk event information from the base station 16 is reduced compared to unicasting to all the vehicles 32-38. Rapid increase in downlink traffic can be suppressed. Moreover, the remaining vehicles 33, 35 to 37 within the distribution area A can transfer and distribute the dangerous event information from the vehicles 34, 38 by broadcasting through inter-vehicle communication (direct wireless communication). Therefore, while suppressing a rapid increase in downlink traffic from the mobile communication base station 16, the dangerous event information detected by the vehicle 31 is distributed to all of the plurality of vehicles 32 moving in the distribution area A to be distributed. Via station 16, critical event information can be distributed.

Further, according to the present embodiment, some vehicles 32, 34 selected from a plurality of vehicles (moving bodies) 32 to 38 present in the delivery area A to which the dangerous event information is delivered, and the RSU (roadside communication relay unit) ) 17, the downlink traffic from the base station 16 is reduced compared to unicasting to all of the vehicles 32-38. can curb the rapid increase in Moreover, the remaining vehicles 33, 35 to 38 in the distribution area A can transfer and distribute the dangerous event information from the vehicle 34 and the RSU 17 by direct wireless broadcast transmission. Therefore, while suppressing a rapid increase in downlink traffic from the mobile communication base station 16, the dangerous event information detected by the vehicle 31 is distributed to all of the plurality of vehicles 32 moving in the distribution area A to be distributed. Via station 16, critical event information can be distributed.

Further, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, an appropriate distribution method is selected according to the urgency of the dangerous event detected by the vehicle 31, and the distribution area A to be distributed is selected. Hazardous event information may be distributed via the base station 16 to all of a plurality of vehicles 32 in motion.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the dangerous event information to be transmitted to vehicles (moving bodies) targeted for unicast transmission includes forwarding necessity information indicating whether or not to perform forwarding by broadcast transmission of information to surrounding vehicles. By including it, it is possible to avoid transfer processing by unnecessary broadcast transmission based on the transfer necessity information, so that the load of communication, control, etc. in the vehicle can be reduced.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the vehicle (mobile body) to be subjected to unicast transmission is a vehicle in which no other vehicle capable of direct wireless communication is located in the vicinity, and has a direct wireless communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) function. By including at least one of the vehicles that do not receive the dangerous event information, it is possible to reduce the number of vehicles that fail to deliver the dangerous event information.

Further, according to the present embodiment, at least the communicable distance and communication power of direct wireless communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication), the spatial density of vehicles, and the time zone are used to determine a vehicle (mobile body) to be subjected to unicast transmission. By using one, it is possible to reduce the number of vehicles that fail to deliver dangerous event information that is not transferred by broadcast transmission from vehicles after unicast transmission.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the dangerous event information distributed to the plurality of vehicles (moving bodies) 32 to 38 includes at least one of time stamp information and information capable of identifying whether or not to output distribution information. By having it, the server 10 can specify the control using the time stamp information and the output control of the distribution information in the vehicle that received the dangerous event information.

It should be noted that the processing steps as well as the components of the mobile communication system described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these processes and components may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof.

For hardware implementation, means such as processing units used to implement the above steps and components in an entity (e.g., various wireless communication devices, Node Bs, terminals, hard disk drives, or optical disk drives) are: One or more of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), digital signal processor (DSP), digital signal processor (DSPD), programmable logic device (PLD), field programmable gate array (FPGA), processor , controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, computers, or combinations thereof.

Also, for firmware and/or software implementations, means such as processing units used to implement the above components may be programs (e.g., procedures, functions, modules, instructions) that perform the functions described herein. , etc.). In general, any computer/processor readable medium tangibly embodying firmware and/or software code means, such as a processing unit, used to implement the above steps and components described herein. may be used to implement For example, firmware and/or software code may be stored in memory and executed by a computer or processor, such as in a controller. The memory may be implemented within the computer or processor, or external to the processor. The firmware and/or software code may also be, for example, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), programmable read only memory (PROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM). ), FLASH memory, floppy disk, compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), magnetic or optical data storage devices, etc. good. The code may be executed by one or more computers or processors and may cause the computers or processors to perform certain aspects of the functionality described herein.

Also, the medium may be a non-temporary recording medium. Also, the code of the program may be readable and executable by a computer, processor, or other device or apparatus machine, and its format is not limited to a particular format. For example, the program code may be source code, object code, or binary code, or may be a mixture of two or more of these codes.

Moreover, the description of the embodiments disclosed herein is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein are applicable to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. This disclosure, therefore, is not to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

10: Server 16: Base stations 31-38: Vehicles 41-49: Vehicle 90: Roads 91, 92: Lane 100: Information transmission unit 110: Storage unit 120: Information distribution control unit 121: Dangerous event information reception unit 122: Vehicle Information acquisition unit 123 : Distribution area determination unit 124 : Transmission target determination unit 125 : Control unit 126 : Distribution method selection unit 300 : Communication device 310 : First wireless communication unit 320 : Second wireless communication unit 330 : Information processing control unit 340 : Storage unit 350 : Dangerous event detection unit

Claims (21)

A server that distributes information to a plurality of moving bodies,
a distribution area determining unit that determines a distribution area in which a plurality of information distribution target moving bodies are located;
a transmission target determination unit that selects and determines mobile units to be subjected to unicast transmission via a mobile communication base station based on position information of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area;
an information transmitting unit that unicast-transmits the information to the mobile object to be unicast-transmitted via the mobile communication base station;
A server characterized by comprising: A server that distributes information to a plurality of moving bodies,
a distribution area determination unit that determines a distribution area in which a plurality of mobile objects to which information is to be distributed are located;
Based on at least one of the content of the information to be distributed and the location information of the plurality of mobiles located within the distribution area, from a plurality of types of distribution methods including at least wireless communication via a base station for mobile communication. a selection unit for selecting a distribution method used when distributing the information to each of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area;
an information distribution unit that distributes the information to the plurality of mobile units via the base station using the selected wireless distribution method;
A server characterized by comprising: In the server of claim 2,
The plurality of types of delivery methods are
selecting and determining mobile units to be subjected to unicast transmission via a mobile communication base station based on position information of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area; a first distribution method for unicast-transmitting the information to the mobile object to be unicast-transmitted via
and a second distribution method for unicasting the information to each of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area via the base station. In the server of claim 1 or 3,
The server, wherein the information received by the mobile object of unicast transmission is broadcast-transmitted by direct wireless communication to other mobile objects located near the mobile object of unicast transmission. In the server of claim 4,
The server, wherein the information to be transmitted to the unicast transmission target mobile includes transfer necessity information indicating whether or not to transfer the information by broadcast transmission to the surrounding mobiles. In the server of claim 1, 3, 4 or 5,
The mobiles subject to unicast transmission include at least one of mobiles in which other mobiles capable of direct wireless communication are not located nearby, and mobiles that do not have a direct wireless communication function between mobiles. A server characterized by In the server of claim 1, 3, 4, 5 or 6,
Unicast transmission targets from the server via the base station include roadside communication relay devices provided around a moving route of the distribution area,
The unicast transmission target mobiles are selected and determined based on the location information of the plurality of mobiles located within the distribution area and the location information of the roadside communication relay device. server. In the server of claim 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7,
At least one of a communicable distance and communication power of direct wireless communication between mobiles, a spatial density of the plurality of mobiles, and a time zone is used to determine the mobiles to be the targets of unicast transmission. server. In the server according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The server, wherein the information distributed to the plurality of mobile units has at least one of time stamp information and information capable of identifying necessity of outputting the distribution information. In the server according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
an information acquisition unit that receives and acquires information on the position and speed of the mobile object and whether there is a direct wireless communication function between the mobile objects from the plurality of mobile objects via the base station;
an information storage unit that stores position information of each of the plurality of moving bodies;
A server characterized by comprising: In the server according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The server, wherein the moving object is a vehicle that travels on a road. In the server according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
a dangerous event information receiving unit that receives information on the dangerous event from the moving object that has detected a dangerous event that has occurred in an area in which the plurality of moving objects are moving;
the information to be distributed is information on the dangerous event;
The server, wherein the distribution area is an area on the upstream side in a moving direction of the moving body from the occurrence position of the dangerous event. A communication system comprising: the server according to any one of claims 1 to 12; and a base station for mobile communication. 14. In the communication system of claim 13,
further comprising a roadside communication relay device provided around the moving route of the mobile body and capable of unicast transmission of information from the server via the base station;
A communication system, wherein the information received by the roadside communication relay device is broadcast-transmitted by direct wireless communication to mobile units located around the roadside communication relay device. A communication device provided in a mobile body,
a first wireless communication unit that communicates with a server via a mobile communication base station;
a second wireless communication unit that performs direct wireless communication with surrounding mobile objects;
receiving, from the server, distribution information and transfer necessity information indicating whether or not to transfer the distribution information by broadcast transmission to surrounding mobile bodies by the direct wireless communication, and the transfer necessity information is transferred; Control is performed so that the distribution information is broadcast to surrounding moving bodies by the direct wireless communication when necessary, and the broadcast transmission of the distribution information by the direct wireless communication is not performed when the transfer necessity information does not need to be transferred. and an information processing control unit that performs the processing. A communication device provided in a mobile body,
a first wireless communication unit that communicates with a server via a mobile communication base station;
a second wireless communication unit that performs direct wireless communication with surrounding mobile objects;
The first distribution information transmitted from the server is received by the first wireless communication unit, the second distribution information transferred from a nearby mobile body is received by the second wireless communication unit, and the first distribution information is received. and the second distribution information, and if the comparison results do not match, the first distribution information and the second distribution information are stored, and if the comparison results match, the first distribution information and the second distribution information are stored. A communication device, comprising: an information processing control unit that performs control such that one of information is discarded and the other is stored. A communication device provided in a mobile body,
a first wireless communication unit that communicates with a server via a mobile communication base station;
a second wireless communication unit that performs direct wireless communication with a roadside communication relay device provided around a moving route;
The first distribution information transmitted from the server is received by the first wireless communication unit, the second distribution information transferred from the roadside communication relay device is received by the second wireless communication unit, and the information is received from the server. The distribution information received from the roadside communication relay device is compared with the distribution information received from the roadside communication relay device. If the two distribution information do not match, the two distribution information are stored. and an information processing control unit that performs control such that one of the two distribution information is discarded and the other is stored. A communication method for distributing information to a plurality of mobile bodies,
Determining a distribution area in which a plurality of mobile objects targeted for information distribution are located;
Selecting and determining mobile units to be subjected to unicast transmission via a mobile communication base station based on position information of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area;
unicast transmission of the information to the mobile object to be unicast transmitted via the base station of the mobile communication. A communication method for distributing information to a plurality of mobile bodies,
Determining a distribution area in which a plurality of mobiles to which information is to be distributed are located;
Based on at least one of the content of the information to be distributed and the location information of the plurality of mobiles located within the distribution area, from a plurality of types of distribution methods including at least wireless communication via a base station for mobile communication. selecting a distribution method to be used when distributing the information to each of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area;
distributing the information to the plurality of mobiles via the base station using the selected wireless distribution method;
A communication method comprising: A program executed in a computer or processor provided in a device for distributing information to a plurality of mobile bodies,
a program code for determining a distribution area in which a plurality of information distribution target mobile bodies are located;
a program code for selecting and determining mobile units to be subjected to unicast transmission via a mobile communication base station based on location information of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area;
a program code for unicast-transmitting the information to the mobile object to be unicast-transmitted via the mobile communication base station;
A program characterized by comprising: A program executed in a computer or processor provided in a device for distributing information to a plurality of mobile bodies,
program code for determining a distribution area in which a plurality of mobiles to which information is to be distributed are located;
Based on at least one of the content of the information to be distributed and the location information of the plurality of mobiles located within the distribution area, from a plurality of types of distribution methods including at least wireless communication via a base station for mobile communication. , a program code for selecting a distribution method used when distributing the information to each of the plurality of mobile units located within the distribution area;
program code for distributing the information to the plurality of mobile units via the base station using the selected wireless distribution method;
A program characterized by comprising:

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