JPH09326750A - On-vehicle communication controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inhibit connection of a communication channel in advance so that communication is not interrupted because a portable telephone set enters a communication disable area during data communication in the case that the data communication is conducted by using the portable telephone set. SOLUTION: Communication disable area discrimination sections 11, 12 of the on-vehicle communication controller discriminate whether or not a communication disable area is within the range of a prescribed distance for a current position by collating map data stored in a map data storage section 7 with the current position of an automobile detected by a position detection section 9 in the case that communication by a portable telephone set 1 is going to be made. When the sections 11, 12 discriminate that the communication disable area is within the range of the prescribed distance, a line connection inhibit section 13 inhibits connection of a data communication channel by the portable telephone set 1. Thus, in the case that data communication is going to be made by the portable telephone set, the occurrence of an event that communication is interrupted because of the automobile entering an area to which a signal does not reach during communication is prevented in advance and useless communication is avoided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted communication control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in-vehicle communication systems are simply portable /
Not only the function of calling by radio signal like a car phone but also the function of transmitting and receiving data by connecting with a provider that provides various information services has been added.

[0003]

However, in an in-vehicle communication control device for transmitting and receiving such data, during transmission and reception of data with a provider through a mobile / car phone (hereinafter abbreviated as mobile phone). For example, if you pass through a place with a roof such as a tunnel or a toll gate on a highway, or if you enter a communication area where wireless signals do not reach, mobile communication will be interrupted,
Even in such a case, there is a mobile phone service company or provider that keeps the line connected or continues sending data until the line disconnection signal is received from the mobile phone side, which is wasteful and expensive. was there.

Even if a mobile phone service company or provider automatically disconnects the line if the wireless signal is lost, if the communication wireless signal is lost in this way, the mobile phone service company or provider enters the communicable area. Sometimes, the line connection procedure and the data transmission / reception connection procedure must be repeated from the beginning again, and all the transmission / reception data that had been transmitted before the forced interruption of communication was wasted, and there was the problem of increased communication costs. It was

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and detects the current traveling position of an automobile and checks the geographical relationship with the incommunicable area registered on the map data. , If it is not possible to complete the data communication before reaching the incommunicable area, prohibit the line connection of the mobile phone, and forcibly disconnect the line without performing the data communication when shifting to the data communication stage. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle-mounted communication control device that avoids line connection and data communication that may be wasted by the above, and can reduce waste of communication cost.

[0006]

An on-vehicle communication control device according to the invention of claim 1 is a vehicle-mounted mobile communication device, and a map data storage section for storing map data to which mobile communication disabled area information is added. A position detection unit that detects the current position of the vehicle, a map of the map data stored in the map data storage unit and the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection unit, and a range of a predetermined distance from the current position The incommunicable area existence determining unit that determines whether or not the movable body incommunicable area exists, and the incommunicable area existence determining unit determines that the movable body incommunicable area exists within the predetermined distance range. At the same time, a line connection prohibition unit for prohibiting the communication line connection of the mobile communication device is provided.

In the vehicle-mounted communication control device according to the invention of claim 1, when the mobile communication device attempts to communicate, the incommunicable area determination unit is configured to detect the map data and the position detection unit stored in the map data storage unit. By comparing with the detected current position of the vehicle, it is determined whether or not the mobile communication incommunicable region exists within a predetermined distance from the current position. When it is determined that the mobile communication impossible area exists within the predetermined distance, the line connection prohibiting unit prohibits the communication line connection of the mobile communication device.

[0008] Thus, when a mobile communication device attempts to communicate, a situation in which a car enters a region where a radio signal does not reach and communication is interrupted during the communication is prevented, and unnecessary communication is avoided. To do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the vehicle-mounted communication control device according to the first aspect further includes a speed detecting section for detecting a current speed of the vehicle, and the incommunicable area existence determining section determines the speed from the current position. It is configured to determine whether or not the mobile communication incommunicable region exists within a range of a predetermined distance proportional to the current speed detected by the detection unit.

In the vehicle-mounted communication control device according to the present invention, the incommunicable area existence determining unit has the movable body incommunicable area within a range of a predetermined distance proportional to the current speed detected by the speed detecting unit from the current position. If it is determined that the mobile communication incommunicable area exists within the predetermined distance, the line connection prohibition unit prohibits the communication line connection of the mobile communication device.

Thus, when a mobile communication device attempts to communicate, a situation in which a car enters a region where a wireless signal does not reach and communication is interrupted during the communication is prevented, and unnecessary communication is avoided. To do. Moreover, by variably setting the determination distance range of the incommunicable area according to the speed of the vehicle, even if the incommunicable area exists within the same distance range on the road congested and the road traveling at the cruising speed, for example. Since the time to reach that area is very different, it is possible to communicate until it comes close to the incommunicable area when the speed is slow, and it is impossible to connect the communication line in front of the incommunicable area when the speed is high. By doing so, the reliability of avoiding communication line connection is improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle-mounted communication control device according to the first aspect, a speed detecting section for detecting a current speed of the vehicle, and a route searching section for searching a traveling route of the vehicle on the map data. And the incommunicable area existence determination unit, the movement within the range of a predetermined distance proportional to the current speed detected by the speed detection unit on the route determined by the route search unit from the current position. This is to determine whether or not there is a body communication disabled area.

In the vehicle-mounted communication control device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the incommunicable area existence determination unit is located on the route determined by the route search unit from the current position and at a predetermined distance proportional to the current speed detected by the speed detection unit. If it is determined that there is a mobile communication incommunicable area within the range, and if it is determined that the mobile communication incommunicable area exists within a range of a predetermined distance proportional to the speed, the line connection prohibition unit causes the communication of the mobile communication device to Prohibit line connection.

Thus, when communication is attempted by the mobile communication device, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a situation in which a car enters a region where a wireless signal does not reach during the communication and communication is interrupted, and unnecessary communication is avoided. To do. Moreover, by variably setting the judgment distance range of the incommunicable area on the route toward the destination and according to the speed of the car, the route can be changed from the route such as when traveling on a highway equipped with mobile communication facilities. In a situation where communication is not possible in a remote area but communication is possible on the route, even if the incommunicable area is close in distance, the incommunicable area is detected and the line connection is prohibited meaninglessly. Prevent the occurrence of
Also, when the speed is low, communication is possible until it comes close to the incommunicable area, and when the speed is high, the communication line connection is disabled for a considerable distance to the incommunicable area. Further increase.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an in-vehicle communication control device, an in-vehicle mobile communication device, a map data storage section for storing map data to which mobile communication impossible area information is added, and a current position of an automobile. The position detection unit, the map data stored in the map data storage unit and the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection unit are compared, and the distance from the current position to the latest mobile communication incommunicable area A non-communicable area detecting unit, a communicable time calculating unit that calculates a communicable time until reaching the mobile communication incommunicable area detected by the non-communicable area detecting unit, and the communicable time calculating unit, Comparing the available communication time to be calculated with a preset reference time value and providing a line connection prohibition unit for prohibiting the line connection of the mobile communication device when the available communication time is shorter A.

In the vehicle-mounted communication control device according to the present invention, when the mobile communication device tries to perform communication, the incommunicable area detection unit detects the map data stored in the map data storage unit and the position detection unit. The distance from the current position to the latest mobile communication incommunicable area is detected by comparing with the current position of the vehicle to be detected, and the communication time calculation unit reaches the mobile communication incommunicable area detected by the communication incompetent area detection unit. Calculate the available communication time until. Then, the line connection prohibition unit compares the communicable time until reaching the mobile communication incompatibility area with the reference time value, and prohibits the line connection of the mobile communication device when the communicable time is shorter.

Thus, when communication is attempted by the mobile communication device, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a situation in which a car enters a region where a wireless signal does not reach and communication is interrupted during the communication, and unnecessary communication is avoided. To do.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the vehicle-mounted communication control device according to the fourth aspect further comprises a speed detecting section for detecting a current speed of the vehicle, and the communicable time calculating section detects the speed from the current position. The communicable time is calculated on the basis of the current speed detected by the unit and the distance to the mobile communication disabled region detected by the communication disabled region detection unit.

In the vehicle-mounted communication control device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the communicable time calculating unit determines from the current position to the current speed detected by the speed detecting unit and the mobile communication incommunicable region detected by the communication incommunicable region detecting unit. The available communication time is calculated based on the distance, and the line connection prohibition unit compares the available communication time with the reference time value, and when the available communication time is shorter, the line connection of the mobile communication device is prohibited.

Thus, when a mobile communication device tries to communicate, a situation in which a car enters a region where a radio signal does not reach and communication is interrupted during the communication is prevented, and wasteful communication is prevented. To avoid. Moreover, by setting the communicable time until reaching the incommunicable area according to the speed of the vehicle, for example, the incommunicable area exists in the same distance range on the road congested and the road traveling at the cruising speed. Even when the speed is low, the time required to reach that area is very different, so when the speed is low, communication is possible until it comes close to the incommunicable area, and when the speed is high, the communication line is a short distance before reaching the incommunicable area. By making the connection impossible, the reliability of avoiding communication line connection is improved.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle-mounted communication control device according to the fourth aspect, there is provided a speed detecting section for detecting a current speed of the vehicle and a route searching section for searching a traveling route of the vehicle on the map data. The mobile communication in which the communicable time calculating unit detects the current speed detected by the speed detecting unit and the incommunicable area detecting unit on the route determined by the route searching unit from the current position The available communication time is calculated based on the distance to the disabled area.

According to the vehicle-mounted communication device of the invention of claim 6,
The communicable time calculator calculates the current speed on the route determined by the route search unit from the current position, and the current speed detected by the speed detector and the distance from the mobile communication disabled region detected by the communication disabled region detector from the current position. The line connection prohibition unit compares the available communication time with the reference time value, and when the available communication time is shorter, the line connection of the mobile communication device is prohibited.

Thus, when a mobile communication device tries to communicate, a situation in which a car enters a region where a wireless signal does not reach and communication is interrupted during the communication is prevented, and wasteful communication is prevented. To avoid. Moreover, by variably setting the judgment distance range of the incommunicable area on the route toward the destination and according to the speed of the car, the route can be changed from the route such as when traveling on a highway equipped with mobile communication facilities. In a situation where communication is not possible in a remote area but communication is possible on the route, even if the incommunicable area is close in distance, the incommunicable area is detected and the line connection is prohibited meaninglessly. Prevent the occurrence of
Also, when the speed is low, communication is possible until it comes close to the incommunicable area, and when the speed is high, the communication line connection is disabled for a considerable distance to the incommunicable area. Further increase.

[0024]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1,
When a mobile communication device attempts communication, it is possible to prevent a situation in which a car enters a region where a wireless signal does not reach during communication and communication is interrupted, and unnecessary communication is avoided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when communication is attempted by the mobile communication device, a situation in which the communication is interrupted due to a car entering a region where a wireless signal does not reach during the communication occurs. It is possible to prevent and avoid unnecessary communication, and according to the speed of the car, when the speed of the car is slow, communication is possible until it comes close to the incommunicable area, and when the speed is high, a considerable distance to the incommunicable area. By disabling the communication line connection just before this, the reliability of avoiding the communication line connection can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when communication is attempted by the mobile communication device, a situation occurs in which a car enters a region where a wireless signal does not reach during the communication and communication is interrupted. It is possible to prevent unnecessary communication and avoid unnecessary communication, and it is not possible to communicate in an area off the route, such as when traveling on a route to the destination and on a highway equipped with mobile communication facilities. Even if there is communication on the route, even if the incommunicable area is close in distance, it prevents the situation where the incommunicable area is detected and the line connection is meaninglessly prohibited. ,
Also, when the speed is slow, communication is possible until it comes close to the incommunicable area, and when the speed is fast, the communication line connection is disabled for a considerable distance to the incommunicable area, thereby improving the reliability of avoiding the communication line connection. It can be raised even higher.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when communication is attempted by the mobile communication device, the communicable time is calculated from the distance from the current position to the incommunicable area, and the communicable time is set in advance. By prohibiting the connection of the communication line when it is shorter than the required communication time, it is possible to prevent communication from being interrupted due to a car entering the area where the wireless signal does not reach during data communication. Can be avoided.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when communication is attempted by the mobile communication device, a situation occurs in which a car is put in an area where a radio signal does not reach during the communication and communication is interrupted. It is possible to prevent unnecessary communication and avoid unnecessary communication. Moreover, even if the distance to the incommunicable area is the same, the speed of the vehicle can be calculated by calculating the communicable time from the speed of the vehicle and the distance from the current location to the incommunicable area. By increasing the communication time when the speed is slow and shortening the communication time when the speed is high, it is possible to make more realistic judgments according to the running speed of the car and increase the reliability of avoiding communication line connection. You can

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when a mobile communication device attempts to communicate, a situation occurs in which a car is put in an area where a radio signal does not reach during the communication and communication is interrupted. It is possible to prevent unnecessary communication and avoid unnecessary communication.Also, the communicable time is calculated by considering the incommunicable area existing on the route to the destination, and the traveling speed of the car is also taken into consideration. The reliability of avoiding the communication line connection can be further enhanced by determining whether the communication line connection is possible or not by comparing with the required communication time.

[0030]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a hardware configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention, which includes a mobile phone 1 and a commercially available vehicle-mounted GPS (Global Position).
Ning System) and a mobile phone 1 are connected to the mobile phone 1 by a PCMPIA type modem card 3 to transmit and receive data, and the navigation unit 2 also has an RS232C port 4
It is composed of a portable computer (PC) 5 connected through.

The functional configuration of the vehicle-mounted communication control device according to this embodiment is as shown in FIG. 2. The navigation unit 2 detects the position of the own vehicle by the GPS 6, and C
Road map data storage unit 7 composed of DROM drive
The map data including the current position of the own vehicle is called from and displayed on the display 8, the current position data given by the GPS 6 is collated with the map data, and the own vehicle position mark is displayed at the corresponding position displayed on the display 8 on the map. It has a present location calculation unit 9 for displaying.

The vehicle-mounted communication control device of the first embodiment is realized by being installed as an application in a general portable computer 5 having a PCMCIA card slot and an RS232C port as a serial communication port. As the functional configuration of the application, the current location information of the automobile is fetched from the current location calculation section 9 of the navigation unit 2, the incommunicable area information existing near the current location is fetched from the road map data storage section 7, and based on these information. The incommunicable area arrival distance calculation unit 11 that calculates the distance from the current location to the incommunicable area is compared with the comparative distance reference value and the distance to the incommunicable area, and the distance to the incommunicable area or the comparative distance reference value is compared. Judgment of communication line connection is possible when it is small Judgment of communication line connection is not possible 12, a communication line connecting prohibition unit 13 that outputs a communication line connection termination request when the communications line connection yes no determination unit 12 outputs the communication line connection not determined,
It has a data communication unit 14 that transmits and receives data to and from a data communication service provider through the mobile phone 1.

Next, the operation of the vehicle-mounted communication control device of the first embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. If the vehicle is running while operating the navigation unit 2, the current position calculation unit 9 takes in the vehicle position information by the GPS 6, and at the same time, the map of the surrounding area including the vehicle position by the GPS 6 from the road map data storage unit 7. The data is read, it is determined which position on the map the own vehicle is traveling, the calculation result is passed to the display 8, and the display 8 displays the map data with the own vehicle position mark.

In such a running state, when a data communication application incorporated in the computer 5 attempts to perform data communication through the mobile phone 1, the mobile phone 1 or the auto dial function of the computer 5 side is used. When the telephone of the data communication service provider is called (step S1) and the line is established (step S2), the computer 5 side issues a data communication connection start (login) request (step S).
3) Wait for connection (step S4).

When the connection (login) procedure is completed, the data transmission / reception process is started (step S5). At this time, the computer is operated so as not to enter the incommunicable area during the data transmission / reception. The incommunicable area arrival distance calculation unit 11 of 5 confirms the current position of the vehicle (step S6), and the road map data storage unit 7
Is searched for an incommunicable area around the present position, a distance Dd from the vehicle position is calculated, and it is passed to the communication line connection availability determination unit 12.

The communication line connection availability determination unit 12 compares the distance reference value Dref preset as a distance for which a sufficient data communication time cannot be obtained with the distance Dd calculated by the communication impossible area arrival calculation unit 11, If the reachable distance of the incommunicable area is larger than the distance reference value, the determination that data communication is possible is output, the communication line connection prohibition unit 13 gives a connection permission instruction to the data communication unit 14, and the data communication unit 14 causes the mobile phone 1
Data is transmitted and received to and from the provider through (step S
7, S8).

However, in this comparison in step S7, the incommunicable area arrival distance D is greater than the distance reference value Dref.
If d is smaller, the communication line connection availability determination unit 12 gives a data communication unavailable determination output to the communication line connection inhibition unit 13, and the communication line connection inhibition unit 13 receives this and connects the communication line to the data communication unit 14. Give an end request (step S
9).

If the data communication unit 14 receives a communication connection end request from the communication line connection prohibition unit 13 and if it is determined in step S8 that data transmission / reception has ended, a connection end (logout) procedure is performed (step S10). When the connection termination procedure is completed, the data communication unit 14 further performs a communication line disconnection procedure (step S11) and disconnects the communication line (step S12).

Thus, in the first embodiment, when it is determined that the incommunicable area exists within the range of the predetermined distance from the current position of the automobile, the data communication is not started through the mobile phone and the data communication is stopped during the data communication. This prevents the procedural waste and the waste of charges that would cause the communication to be interrupted when entering the incommunicable area and the connection process would have to be redone from the beginning when entering the communicable area.

The data communication unit 14 of the computer 5
Can be modified to have the function shown in the flowchart of FIG. In the actual data communication service, the system charges mainly the connection charge (login) as well as the usage charge (telephone charge) of the telephone line. Therefore, the mobile phone 1 is used to provide the provider to the data transmission / reception service. When trying to connect, if the car enters the incommunicable area in the middle of the connection, the charge may be completely wasted. Therefore, the distance between the vehicle position and the incommunicable area is calculated during the telephone line connection procedure, connection procedure (login procedure), and data transmission / reception. If the distance is closer than the distance reference value, line connection and connection (login) are performed. By forcibly disconnecting the connection at any stage of the procedure and data transmission / reception, it is possible to reduce the waste of the usage charge.

That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, when the data communication unit 14 automatically dials the telephone number of the provider to establish a line connection (step S
1) If the connection permission command is not received from the communication line connection prohibition unit 13, the line connection processing is not performed (steps S1a and S1).
b) Also, connect (login) even after the telephone line connection is completed.
Even at the start of the procedure (step S3), the data transmission / reception connection process is not performed unless a connection permission command is received from the communication line connection prohibition unit 13 (step S3).
a, S3b).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The feature of the second embodiment is that the traveling speed is different when the vehicle is traveling on the highway and when it is traveling in the city area or in the traffic jam. Considering that the time to do so also varies greatly, the comparison distance reference value for the distance to the incommunicable area is automatically changed according to the height of the own vehicle, and the comparison distance reference value is increased at high speed, On the contrary, the comparative distance reference value is set to be small when traveling at low speed.

Therefore, the portable computer 5 has a functional configuration as shown in FIG. 5, has a speed input section 15 for inputting a speed signal from a speed sensor conventionally provided in an automobile, and is capable of connecting to a communication line. The impossibility determination unit 16 uses the speed input unit 1 for the preset distance reference value Dref.
A value obtained by multiplying the speed V from 5 by a predetermined coefficient is newly set as a distance reference value Dref ', and this is compared with the incommunicable distance Dd calculated by the incommunicable area arrival distance calculation unit 11 to determine whether the communication line connection is possible or not. The judgment is made. Note that the configuration of each of the other parts is common to the block diagram of FIG. 2, and the same reference numerals are given to omit detailed description thereof.

In the second embodiment, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, when data communication is to be performed through the mobile phone 1, the auto dial function of the mobile phone 1 or the computer 5 is used. When the telephone of the data communication service provider is called (step S21) and the line is established (step S22), the computer 5 side issues a data communication connection request (step S2).
3) Wait for connection (step S24).

When the connection (login) procedure is completed, the data transmission / reception process is started (step S25). At this time,
In order to prevent the vehicle from entering the incommunicable area during data transmission / reception, the incommunicable area reachable distance calculation unit 11 of the computer 5 searches for the incommunicable area around the current location of the vehicle. Distance from position Dd
Is calculated and passed to the communication line connection availability determination unit 16 (step S26).

In the communication line connection availability determination unit 16, the following equation in which a distance reference value Dref 'corresponding to the speed is preset from the vehicle speed V input by the speed input unit 15 and the distance reference value Dref, Dref' = K · Dref · V, and compares this with the incommunicable area reach distance Dd. If the incommunicable area reach distance is greater than the distance reference value, a determination that data communication is possible is output, and the communication line connection prohibition unit 1
3 gives a connection permission command to the data communication unit 14, and the data communication unit 14 transmits / receives data to / from the provider through the mobile phone 1 (steps S27, S28).

However, in the comparison of step S27, if the communication-disabled area arrival distance Dd is smaller than the speed-corresponding distance reference value Dref ', the communication line connection availability determination unit 16 outputs the data communication unavailable determination output. In response to this, the communication line connection prohibiting unit 13 gives a communication line connection end request to the data communication unit 14 (step S29).

The data communication unit 14 receives a communication connection end request from the communication line connection prohibition unit 13, or step S2.
If it is determined in step 8 that data transmission / reception has ended, a connection end (logout) procedure is performed (step S30).

When this connection termination procedure is completed, the data communication unit 14 further performs a communication line disconnection procedure (step S31) and disconnects the communication line (step S3).
2).

Also in the second embodiment, the distance calculation between the own vehicle position and the incommunicable area is performed during the telephone line connection procedure, the connection (login) procedure, and the data transmission / reception. If the connection is near, the data communication unit 14 of the computer 5 has the function shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 in order to reduce the waste of the usage charge by performing the forced connection release at any stage of the line connection, the login procedure, and the data transmission / reception. Can be modified to have.

That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, when the data communication unit 14 automatically dials the telephone number of the provider to establish a line connection (step S
21), if the connection permission command is not received from the communication line connection prohibition unit 13, the line connection processing is not performed (step S21a,
In S21b), even after the telephone line connection is completed, even when the connection (login) procedure is started (step S23), the data transmission / reception connection process is not performed unless the connection permission command is received from the communication line connection prohibition unit 13. Yes (steps S23a and S23b).

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The feature of the third embodiment is that the geographical incommunicable area is registered as the incommunicable area in the map data of the map data storage unit 7 of the navigation unit 2 and, for example, in a tollgate of a toll road with a tunnel or roof covering. The data of the existing location of such a road building is also registered, and in addition, the navigation unit 2 having the function of guiding the route to the destination is used, and the navigation route shown by the navigation unit 2 is used for the portable computer 5. In the above, it is determined whether there is an incommunicable area within the distance range corresponding to the own vehicle speed, and when it is determined that it does not start data communication, waste of call charges and connection charges is suppressed. In point.

The functional configuration of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 8 is almost the same as that of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, but the present location calculation section of the navigation unit 2 shown in FIG. The reference numeral 9 ′ has travel route information to the destination in advance on the map data read from the map data storage unit 7, and determines where the vehicle is currently traveling on that route, and the display 8 It has a function to display a mark at the position of the vehicle on the map.

Further, the incommunicable area arrival distance calculation unit 11 'receives route information from the current position calculation unit 9'to the destination and the current position data, and also receives the incommunicable region information in the vicinity of the current position from the map data storage unit 7. Then, it has a function of finding an area where the route to the destination and the incommunicable area overlap, and calculating the distance from the current point to the incommunicable area.

The operation of the third embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Steps S41 to S4
The telephone line connection processing and data communication connection (login) processing procedure of No. 4 and the connection end (logout) processing and telephone line disconnection processing procedure of steps S49 to S52 are the second.
6 according to the embodiment of the present invention, steps S21 to S24, and steps S29 to S3.
Since the procedure is the same as the procedure up to 2, detailed description is omitted.

The operation of the third embodiment is characterized by the data transmission / reception procedure of steps S45 to S48. If the data communication connection (login) process is completed and the data transmission / reception process is started (step S45), communication is disabled. The area arrival distance calculation unit 11 'receives the current position information on the route from the current position calculation unit 9', and obtains the incommunicable region information around the current position from the road map data storage unit 7 to determine the route of the own vehicle and the incommunicable region. Finds an area where they overlap, calculates the shortest distance Dd2 from the current position to reach the incommunicable area on the route, and passes this to the communication line connection availability determination unit 16 (step S4).
6).

In the communication line connection availability determination unit 16, the second
In the same manner as in the above embodiment, the following equation in which the distance reference value Dref ′ corresponding to the speed is preset from the vehicle speed V input by the speed input unit 15 and the distance reference value Dref, Dref ′ = k · Dref・ Determined by V, and reachable distance D on this route
d2 is compared, and if the incommunicable area arrival distance is larger than the distance reference value, it outputs a determination that data communication is possible, the communication line connection prohibition unit 13 gives a connection permission command to the data communication unit 14, and the data communication unit 14 Transmits and receives data to and from the provider through the mobile phone 1 (steps S47 and S48).

However, in this comparison of step S47, if the communication incompatibility area arrival distance Dd2 on the route is smaller than the speed corresponding distance reference value Dref ', the communication line connection availability determination unit 16 outputs a determination that data communication is unavailable. The communication line connection prohibiting unit 13 receives the request, and the communication line connection prohibiting unit 13 gives a communication line connection end request to the data communication unit 14 (step S49).

When the data communication unit 14 receives the communication connection end request from the communication line connection prohibition unit 13, the connection end (logout) procedure is performed, and further the communication line disconnection procedure is performed (steps S50 to S52).

In this way, in the third embodiment, if there is a tunnel or an uncommunicable area where the service is undeveloped on the route to the destination of the vehicle, the shortest distance to the position is automatically calculated, If the distance is short enough to arrive within the time required for data transmission / reception, there is a high possibility that data transmission / reception will be interrupted during data transmission / reception. is there.

Incidentally, also in the third embodiment,
The distance between the vehicle position and the incommunicable area on the route is calculated during the telephone line connection procedure, connection (login) procedure, and data transmission / reception. If the distance is closer than the reference distance value, line connection, data transmission / reception connection ( In order to reduce the waste of the usage fee by forcibly disconnecting at any stage of login) procedure and data transmission / reception, the computer 5
The data communication unit 14 can be modified to have the function shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10, when the data communication unit 14 automatically dials the telephone number of the provider to establish a line connection (step S4).
1) If the connection permission command is not received from the communication line connection prohibition unit 13, the line connection processing is not performed (steps S41a, S
41b), or even after the completion of the telephone line connection, at the start of the connection (login) procedure (step S43), the data communication connection process is not performed unless the connection permission command is received from the communication line connection prohibition unit 13. Yes (step S
43a, S43b).

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
It will be described based on. In the fourth embodiment, the portable computer 5 has an incommunicable area arrival distance calculation unit 11 similar to those in the first to third embodiments, and further, the incommunicable area arrival distance calculation unit 11 calculates. The communicable time calculating unit 17 that calculates the communicable time Ta by dividing the communicable area reachable distance Dd by a predetermined number K and the communicable time Ta with the time reference value Tref, Ta ≧ Tre
When f is true, communication line connection availability is determined, and Ta <Tref
And a communication line connection availability determination unit 18 for making a communication line connection availability determination, and based on the determination output from this communication line connection availability determination unit 18, the communication line connection inhibition unit 13
Gives a line connection permission / termination request to the data communication unit 14, and the data communication unit 14 starts or stops the data transmission / reception process through the mobile phone 1 based on the permission / termination request.

Next, the operation of the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
2 and the flowchart of FIG.
As shown in the flow chart of FIG. 12, when a data communication application installed in the computer 5 attempts to perform data communication through the mobile phone 1, the computer 5 side auto-dial function is used to provide a data communication service provider. Call (step S
61), and then the incommunicable area arrival distance calculation unit 11 calculates the distance to the incommunicable area existing around the current position of the vehicle, that is, the incommunicable area arrival distance Dd (step S61a), and then the communicable time. The calculation unit 17 is shown in FIG.
According to the flowchart shown in, communication time Ta
Is calculated (step S61b).

The calculation of the communicable time Ta by the communicable time calculating unit 17 is divided by the predetermined number K with respect to the communicable region reaching distance Dd calculated by the communicable region reaching distance calculating unit 11 as described above. (Steps S81, S82).

When the communication available time Ta is calculated in this way, the time reference value T as the communication required time preset in the communication line connection availability determination unit 18 is next calculated.
Compared with ref (steps S61c and S61d), if the communication available time is longer, the communication line connection availability determination signal is sent, and conversely, if the communication available time is shorter, the communication line connection unavailable determination signal is sent. Give to.

When the communication line connection prohibition unit 13 receives this communication line connection permission judgment signal, it gives a communication line connection permission command to the data communication unit 14, and receives the command of the data communication unit 14 to perform the line establishing process ( Step S62). However, when the communication line connection prohibition unit 14 receives the communication line connection prohibition determination signal and gives a communication line connection end request to the data communication unit 14, the data communication unit 14 forcibly ends the line connection process once activated ( Steps S71 to S7
4).

Once the telephone line is established (step S62), the computer 5 side issues a data communication connection start (login) request to enter the data communication connection procedure (step S63). In order to prevent communication from being interrupted by a car entering the incommunicable area after the data line is connected, step S61a.
The process similar to the process of S61d is performed (step S63).
a to S63d), communication possible time Ta is communication required time Tre
Compared with f, the connection (login) process is performed only when the available communication time Ta is longer (step S64).

When this connection (login) procedure is completed, the data transmission / reception processing is started (step S65), but at this time as well, the automobile will not enter the incommunicable area during the data transmission / reception. The incommunicable area arrival distance calculation unit 11 of the computer 5 confirms the current position of the vehicle (step S66), and the communication possible time calculation unit 17 calculates the communication possible time Ta by the calculation based on the flowchart of FIG. 13 (step S67). Further, the communication line connection availability determination unit 18 compares the available communication time Ta with the time reference value Tref as the required communication time (steps S68 and S69).

Then, the communication line connection availability determination unit 18
In this comparison, the available communication time Ta is the required communication time Tre
If it is larger than f, it outputs a determination that data communication is possible, and the communication line connection prohibition unit 13 issues a connection permission command to the data communication unit 14.
The data communication unit 14 transmits / receives data to / from the provider through the mobile phone 1 (step S70).

However, if the communication possible time Ta is smaller than the communication required time Tref in the comparison of step S69, the communication line connection availability determination unit 18 gives the data communication unavailable determination output to the communication line connection inhibition unit 13, In response to this, the communication line connection prohibition unit 13 receives the data communication unit 14
A communication line connection end request is given to (step S71).

The data communication unit 14 receives a communication connection end request from the communication line connection prohibition unit 13, and also returns to step S70.
If it is determined that the data transmission / reception has ended, the connection end (logout) procedure is performed (step S72).

When this connection termination procedure is completed, the data communication unit 14 further performs a communication line disconnection procedure (step S73) and disconnects the communication line (step S7).
4).

In this way, in the fourth embodiment, the incommunicable area is reached from the current position of the vehicle at each of the line connection stage for data communication, the data communication connection (login) procedure stage, and the data transmission / reception process start stage. The time required for communication, that is, the available communication time Ta is calculated, and the communication line is connected only when it is longer than the communication required time Tref, and the line connection procedure, connection (login) procedure, or data communication is being performed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the waste of the communication being interrupted due to the car entering the incommunicable area.

In the fourth embodiment, the telephone line connection procedure stage, the data transmission / reception connection procedure stage,
At each data transmission / reception start stage, the available communication time Ta is compared with the required communication time Tref, and if the available communication time is short, the procedure immediately goes to the connection termination procedure. However, in order to simplify the system, a telephone call is made in FIG. Judgment processing at the stage of line connection procedure (processing of steps S61a to S61d) and judgment processing at the stage of connection (login) procedure of data transmission / reception (processing of steps S63a to S63d)
Can also be omitted.

Next, FIG. 14 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
It will be described based on. The feature of this fifth embodiment is that
The communicable time calculating unit 19 of the portable computer 5 calculates the incommunicable region reaching distance Dd given by the incommunicable region reaching distance calculating unit 11 and the vehicle speed V given by the speed input unit 15 as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The communication available time Ta is calculated by the above and given to the communication line connection availability determination unit 18, and other configurations are common to the third embodiment shown in FIG.

The operation of the fifth embodiment is the same as the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 similarly to the third embodiment, but the communication available time Ta is calculated in each of steps S61b, S63b and S67. Follows the flowchart shown in FIG.

That is, the incommunicable area arrival distance calculation unit 11
The communication possible time Ta is calculated by receiving the incommunicable area reaching distance Dd given by the above (step S91), receiving the speed V from the speed input unit 15 (step S92), and dividing the communication impossible reaching distance Dd by the speed V. (Step S93).

As a result, the time required to reach the incommunicable area that exists ahead by the same distance greatly differs depending on whether the vehicle is traveling smoothly on the expressway or in a traffic jam state. Even if there is a difference, it properly determines whether data transmission / reception is connectable or not, and during data transmission / reception, it enters the incommunicable area and communication is interrupted, and data transmission / reception up to that point is wasted. It is possible to avoid such a situation.

Incidentally, also in the fifth embodiment,
In the flowchart shown in FIG. 12, determination processing (steps S61a to S61) at the stage of telephone line connection procedure is performed.
It is possible to omit the determination process (the process of steps S63a to S63d) at the stage of the connection (login) procedure for data transmission / reception).

Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The feature of the sixth embodiment is that the navigation unit 2 has a route guiding function to a destination like the third embodiment shown in FIG. This is because the incommunicable area arrival distance calculation unit 11 'obtains the current position information above, calculates the distance Dd2 to the incommunicable area existing on this route, and gives it to the communicable time calculation unit 19. .

In the sixth embodiment, the communicable time computing process corresponding to the speed executed by the communicable time computing unit 19 is performed according to the flowchart of FIG. 15 as in the fifth embodiment, and the data communication The line connection availability determination, the connection (login) procedure availability determination, and the data transmission / reception execution availability determination are performed according to the flowchart in FIG. 12, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

According to the sixth embodiment, the time required for detecting the existence of the incommunicable area existing on the route to the destination of the own vehicle and reaching the area is calculated as the communicable time. However, since it is determined whether the communication connection is possible or not by comparing it with the communication required time, it is possible to make a more realistic determination and reduce the number of wasted data communications.

In any of the above embodiments, the hardware configuration is as shown in FIG.
Not limited to this, in particular, the connection between the navigation unit 2 and the portable computer 5 is widely used, such as parallel connection using a printer port, infrared communication using an infrared communication port, and connection using an expansion bus. Various connection methods used can be selected as needed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the first embodiment described above.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of communication processing executed by the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing another example of communication processing executed by the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of communication processing executed by the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another example of communication processing executed by the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of communication processing executed by the third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing another example of communication processing executed by the third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a functional configuration according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of communication processing executed by the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of communication possible time calculation processing executed by the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a functional configuration according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of communication time calculation processing executed by the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a functional configuration according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Mobile Phone 2 Navigation Unit 5 Computer 6 GPS 7 Road Map Data Storage 8 Display 9, 9'Current Location Calculator 11, 11 'Incommunicable Area Reaching Distance Calculator 12 Communication Line Connection Possible Judgment Section 13 Communication Line Connection Prohibition Section 14 data communication unit 15 speed input unit 16 communication line connection availability determination unit 17 communication time calculation unit 18 communication line connection availability determination unit 19 communication time operation unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle-mounted mobile communication device, a map data storage unit that stores map data to which mobile communication disabled area information is added, a position detection unit that detects the current position of an automobile, and the map data storage. By comparing the map data stored in the unit with the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection unit, it is determined whether the mobile communication incommunicable region exists within a predetermined distance from the current position. A line connection that prohibits the communication line connection of the mobile communication device when the incommunicable area existence determining unit and the incommunicable area existence determining unit determine that the mobile communication incommunicable area exists within the range of the predetermined distance. An in-vehicle communication control device comprising a prohibition unit. 2. A speed detecting unit for detecting a current speed of the automobile, wherein the communication incompetence region existence determining unit is within a range of a predetermined distance proportional to the current speed detected by the speed detecting unit from the current position. The vehicle-mounted communication control device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not there is a mobile communication disabled area. 3. A speed detection unit for detecting a current speed of the automobile, and a route search unit for searching for a traveling route of the automobile on the map data, wherein the incommunicable area existence determination unit determines from the current position. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the mobile communication incommunicable region exists on the route determined by the route search unit and within a range of a predetermined distance proportional to the current speed detected by the speed detection unit. The vehicle-mounted communication control device according to claim 1. 4. A vehicle-mounted mobile communication device, a map data storage unit that stores map data to which mobile communication disabled area information is added, a position detection unit that detects the current position of a vehicle, and the map data storage unit. Map data stored in the department,
The incommunicable area detection unit that detects the distance from the current position to the latest mobile object incommunicable area in comparison with the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection unit, and the incommunicable area detection unit detects A communicable time calculating unit that calculates a communicable time until reaching the mobile unit incommunicable area, and a communicable time calculated by the communicable time calculating unit is compared with a preset reference time value, and communication is performed. An in-vehicle communication control device comprising: a line connection prohibition unit that prohibits line connection of the mobile communication device when the available time is shorter. 5. A speed detection unit for detecting a current speed of the automobile, wherein the communicable time calculation unit detects the current speed detected by the speed detection unit from the current position and the incommunicable area detection unit. The communication possible time is calculated based on the distance to the mobile communication incommunicable area.
The in-vehicle communication control device described. 6. A speed detecting unit for detecting a current speed of the automobile, and a route searching unit for searching a traveling route of the automobile on the map data, wherein the communicable time calculating unit calculates the communication time from the current position. On the route determined by the route search unit, and based on the current speed detected by the speed detection unit and the distance to the mobile communication disabled region detected by the communication disabled region detection unit, a communicable time is calculated. The vehicle-mounted communication control device according to claim 4, wherein