WO2022209200A1 - Roadside relay device, traffic management system, and log collection method - Google Patents

Abstract

A device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure comprises: a first communication unit for communication with a management device; a second communication unit for communication with an information source device; a third communication unit for communication with a vehicle; and a communication control unit that extracts provision information for the vehicle from a reception frame of the second communication unit and outputs a transmission frame including the extracted provision information to the third communication unit, wherein the communication control unit determines the outcome of a condition related to the availability of the provision information on the basis of vehicle information included in a reception frame of the third communication unit and, if the condition is enacted, performs log collection of the provision information.

Description

ROADSIDE REPAIR DEVICE, TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM, AND LOG COLLECTION METHOD

The present disclosure relates to a roadside relay device, a traffic management system, and a log collection method.
This application claims priority based on Japanese Application No. 2021-056626 filed on March 30, 2021, and incorporates all the descriptions described in the Japanese Application.

In Patent Document 1, a roadside radio device connected by wire to a central device and a traffic signal controller belonging to a traffic control system receives signal information of an inflow road at an intersection from the traffic signal controller, and transmits the received signal information to A wireless communication system is described that provides vehicles with road-to-vehicle communication.
Patent Document 2 discloses a central device installed in a traffic control center, one or more line aggregation devices (relay devices), and one or more terminal devices (traffic signal controllers, optical beacons, vehicle detectors and traffic sensors). A traffic control system including information boards) is described.

JP 2016-136375 A JP 2020-087144 A

A device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a first communication unit for communication with a management device, a second communication unit for communication with an information source device, a third communication unit for communication with a vehicle, and a communication control unit that extracts provided information for a vehicle from a frame received by a second communication unit and outputs a transmission frame containing the extracted provided information to the third communication unit, wherein the communication control unit 3 Based on the vehicle information included in the received frame of the communication unit, it is determined whether or not a condition leading to the availability of the provided information is met, and if the condition is met, log collection of the provided information is executed.

A system according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a traffic management system including a management device, a roadside relay device that communicates with the management device, and an information source device that communicates with the management device via the roadside relay device. The roadside relay device performs a relay process for wirelessly transmitting to the vehicle the provided information for the vehicle received from the information source device, and the usability of the provided information performed based on the vehicle information received from the vehicle. Success/failure determination of conditions for connection and log collection of the provided information that is allowed to be executed when the conditions are satisfied are executed.

A method according to an aspect of the present disclosure is performed in a traffic management system comprising a management device, a roadside relay device communicating with the management device, and an information source device communicating with the management device via the roadside relay device. a step of wirelessly transmitting, to a vehicle, the vehicle-oriented provided information received from the information source device by the roadside relay device; determining whether a condition leading to the availability of the provided information is satisfied based on the information; and performing log collection of the provided information by the roadside communication device when the condition is satisfied.

The present disclosure can be realized not only as a system and apparatus having the characteristic configuration as described above, but also as a program for causing a computer to execute such a characteristic configuration. Also, the present disclosure can be implemented as a semiconductor integrated circuit that implements part or all of the system and device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a traffic control system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the roadside relay device. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of limited log collection. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing changes in the communication state of the roadside relay device. FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of vehicle information used to determine the presence or absence of a target vehicle. FIG. 6 is a table summarizing the types and contents of conditions used for determining the presence or absence of a target vehicle. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on the area condition (first condition). FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on the vehicle type condition (second condition). FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on the service type (second condition). FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on the state condition (second condition). FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on the azimuth condition (second condition). FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on route conditions (second conditions). FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a modification of the traffic management system.

<Problems to be solved by the present disclosure>
If traffic signal information provided to vehicles is collected in logs and managed by a central unit, it will be possible to determine whether the cause of a traffic accident is the infrastructure side or the vehicle side. Therefore, it is preferable that the roadside radio device also transmit signal information, which is provided information for vehicles, to the central unit.
However, signal information is a type of dynamic information that requires low delay, and a method of simply transmitting such dynamic information to the central unit 1 requires the adoption of a broadband line and a huge amount of data. requires a large amount of memory, resulting in high line and equipment costs.

The purpose of this disclosure is to enable log collection of provided information for vehicles while suppressing communication and equipment costs.

<Effects of the present disclosure>
According to the present disclosure, log collection of provided information for vehicles can be performed while suppressing communication and equipment costs.

<Outline of Embodiment of Present Disclosure>
An outline of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described below.
(1) A device according to the present embodiment includes a first communication unit for communication with a management device, a second communication unit for communication with an information source device, a third communication unit for communication with a vehicle, a communication control unit that extracts provided information for a vehicle from a frame received by the second communication unit and outputs a transmission frame including the extracted provided information to the third communication unit, wherein the communication control unit is Based on the vehicle information included in the received frame of the third communication unit, it is determined whether or not a condition leading to the availability of the provided information is satisfied, and if the condition is satisfied, log collection of the provided information is executed. Roadside repeater.

According to the roadside relay device of the present embodiment, the communication control unit collects the log of the provided information when the conditions leading to the availability of the provided information for the vehicle are satisfied. Provided information that does not have is excluded from collection.
Therefore, according to the roadside relay device of the present embodiment, it is possible to collect logs of information to be provided to vehicles while suppressing communication and equipment costs.

(2) In the roadside relay device of this embodiment, the conditions preferably include at least one of the following first condition and second condition.
1st condition: The vehicle exists within the service area of the provided information for vehicles 2nd condition: A different condition from the 1st condition that leads to the availability of the provided information for vehicles

The reason for including the first condition above is that vehicles outside the service area cannot properly use the provided information even if it receives it. This is because it can be said to be one of the conditions.
The reason why the second condition is included is that even if the first condition is met, there are cases where it is clear that the provided information is not available, such as when the vehicle refuses the service based on the provided information. This is because it is effective to consider the second condition from a viewpoint different from the first condition.

(3) In the roadside communication device of the present embodiment, when the vehicle information includes the travel position of the vehicle, the communication control unit determines whether the travel position is within the service target area. , the success or failure of the first condition may be determined.
The reason for this is that the travel position included in the vehicle information almost accurately represents the current position of the vehicle, and therefore can be used to determine the success or failure of the first condition.

(4) In the roadside relay device of the present embodiment, if the vehicle information includes the vehicle type of the vehicle, the second condition includes that the vehicle type matches the vehicle type to be serviced by the infrastructure. is preferred.
The reason for this is that when the vehicle type included in the vehicle information matches the serviced vehicle type on the infrastructure side, there is a high possibility that the vehicle will use the provided information for the vehicle.

(5) In the roadside relay device of the present embodiment, when the vehicle information includes the service type being used by the vehicle, the service type matches the infrastructure side service type in the second condition. It is preferable to include
The reason is that when the service type included in the vehicle information matches the service type on the infrastructure side, there is a high possibility that the vehicle will use the provided information for the vehicle.

(6) In the roadside relay device of the present embodiment, when the vehicle information includes a service setting state indicating permission or refusal of service use, the second condition is that the service setting state is permission. is preferably included.
The reason is that when the service setting state included in the vehicle information is permitted, there is a high possibility that the vehicle will use the provided information for the vehicle.

(7) In the roadside relay device of the present embodiment, when the vehicle information includes the direction of travel of the vehicle, the second condition must be that the direction of travel matches the service target direction of the infrastructure. preferably included.
The reason for this is that when the traveling direction included in the vehicle information matches the service target direction on the infrastructure side, there is a high possibility that the vehicle will use the provided information for the vehicle.

(8) In the roadside relay device of the present embodiment, when the vehicle information includes the scheduled route of the vehicle, the second condition is that the scheduled route matches the service target route on the infrastructure side. preferably included.
The reason is that when the scheduled route included in the vehicle information matches the service target route on the infrastructure side, there is a high possibility that the vehicle will use the provided information for the vehicle.

(9) In the roadside relay device according to the present embodiment, when the operation state of the information source device is included in the management target of the management device, the communication control unit receives the information from the received frame of the second communication unit. A relay process of extracting state information of a source device and outputting a transmission frame containing the extracted state information to the first communication unit is possible, and the relay processing of the state information is performed according to the first and second conditions. is preferably executed regardless of the success or failure of
The reason is that if the operating state of the information source device is to be managed by the management device, the state information of the information source device should be preferentially transmitted to the management device.

(10) The system according to the present embodiment is a traffic management system including the roadside relay devices of (1) to (9) above. Therefore, the traffic management system of this embodiment has the same effects as the roadside relay devices (1) to (9) described above.

(11) The method according to the present embodiment is a log collection method executed by the roadside relay device of (1) to (9) above. Therefore, the log collection method of this embodiment has the same effects as those of the roadside relay devices (1) to (9) described above.

<Details of the embodiment of the present disclosure>
Hereinafter, details of embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. At least part of the embodiments described below may be combined arbitrarily.

[Overall system configuration]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a traffic control system 10. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a traffic control system 10 of this embodiment includes a central device 1 and a plurality of communication devices 2 and 3 that are roadside communication nodes that communicate with the central device 1 .

The central device 1 of the present embodiment also functions as a "management device" for providing information S2 for vehicles, which will be described later. In this sense, the traffic control system 10 can also be said to be a "traffic management system 11" for managing the provided information S2 for vehicles.
The plurality of communication devices 2 and 3 include one or more roadside relay devices 2 and one or more information source devices 3 connected to the roadside relay device 2 .

The information source device 3 connected to the roadside relay device 2 includes at least one of a traffic controller 3A and a roadside sensor 3B. The roadside relay device 2 may be connected to a traffic control device other than the illustrated information source device 3, such as an ultrasonic vehicle sensor and a traffic information board.
A central device (management device) 1 is installed in a traffic control center or the like. The roadside relay device 2 is installed at an intersection or road relatively far from the central device 1 . The information source device 3 is installed at an intersection or road relatively close to the roadside relay device 2 .

In the present embodiment, when focusing on one communication device 2, 3, communication performed on the central device 1 side (left side in FIG. 1) as seen from the own device is referred to as "upper side communication", and is adopted as higher side communication. The communication path and transmission method used are referred to as "upper-layer side communication path" and "upper-layer side transmission method", respectively.
Similarly, when focusing on one communication device 2, 3, the communication performed on the opposite side (right side in FIG. 1) of the central device 1 as seen from the own device is called "lower side communication". The adopted communication path and transmission method are called a "lower-order communication path" and a "lower-order transmission method", respectively.

The higher-level side transmission method of the roadside relay device 2 is, for example, the "UD type transmission method". The UD-type transmission system is a transmission system capable of IP (Internet Protocol) communication conforming to the "UD-type interface standard" defined by the Association for New Traffic Management Systems (UTMS Association).
The lower-order transmission system of the roadside relay device 2 is, for example, the "U-shaped transmission system". The U-type transmission method is a transmission method for serial communication in which IP communication is impossible, conforming to the "U-type interface standard" defined by the UTMS Association.

The lower-order transmission method of the roadside relay device 2 is not limited to the U-type transmission method, and may be another transmission method (for example, the M-type transmission method or the S9-type transmission method) defined by the UTMS Association.
The lower-order transmission method of the roadside relay device 2 may be the same as the higher-order transmission method (for example, UD type transmission method). When two or more information source devices 3 are connected to one roadside relay device 2, at least two types of transmission methods may be mixed in the lower-order transmission method.

The central unit 1 comprises, for example, a server unit, and has a communication unit (not shown) capable of communication based on a predetermined lower-order transmission method. The roadside relay device 2 is a communication device having a function of relaying communication between the central device 1 and the information source device 3 .
The upper communication path of the roadside relay device 2 is a wired medium (communication cable) 4 such as a dedicated line. A communication node such as a router may be interposed between the central device 1 and the roadside relay device 2 . In addition, the upper communication path of the roadside relay device 2 may include a wireless medium conforming to standards such as LTE (Long Term Evolution) or fifth generation mobile communication system (5G).

The lower communication path of the roadside relay device 2 includes a wired medium (communication cable) 5 such as a dedicated line or private line. Therefore, at least one information source device 3 can be connected to the roadside relay device 2 via the wired medium 5 .
The wireless medium 6 is also included in the lower communication path of the roadside relay device 2 . The roadside relay device 2 can also wirelessly communicate with the vehicle 7 traveling on the road via the wireless medium 6 . The wireless medium 6 is, for example, a wireless medium of a predetermined frequency band complying with standards such as ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) or LTE (Long Term Evolution).

The traffic signal controller 3A is a control device that controls the power supply to the signal lights at the intersection. The central device 1 generates control information for the traffic controller 3A and transmits it to the roadside relay device 2 . The roadside relay device 2 transfers the received control information to the traffic controller 3A.
The traffic controller 3A determines the light color switching timing of the signal lamp according to the received control information. The control information generated by the central unit 1 is, for example, a signal control command stipulated in the "U-shaped traffic signal controller U-shaped communication application standard" defined by the UTMS Association.

The traffic controller 3A can generate state information S1 indicating the operating state (control information, etc.) of its own device. The traffic controller 3A transmits its own state information S1 to the roadside relay device 2 . The roadside relay device 2 transfers the received status information S1 to the central device 1 .
The state information (control information) S1 generated by the traffic controller 3A is, for example, signal control execution information and signal operation state information defined in the above-mentioned "U-shaped traffic controller U-shaped communication application standard". .

The traffic controller 3A can generate signal information representing the current or future light color state of the signal lamp. The traffic controller 3A transmits the generated signal information to the roadside relay device 2 .
Signal information is a kind of provided information for vehicles (hereinafter, sometimes abbreviated as "provided information") S2. Therefore, the roadside relay device 2 provides the signal information to the vehicle 7 traveling on the road by wirelessly transmitting (for example, broadcasting) the received signal information.

The roadside sensor 3B is composed of, for example, an image-type vehicle sensor or a millimeter wave radar, and can generate sensor information including the current positions of moving bodies (vehicles 7, pedestrians 8, etc.) on the road. The roadside sensor 3B transmits sensor information to the roadside relay device 2 .
The roadside sensor 3B can generate state information S1 indicating the operating state of its own device (presence or absence of failure, etc.). The roadside sensor 3B transmits its own state information S1 to the roadside relay device 2 . The roadside relay device 2 transfers the received status information S1 to the central device 1 .

Sensor information is a kind of provided information S2 for vehicles. Therefore, the roadside relay device 2 wirelessly transmits (for example, broadcasts) the received sensor information, thereby providing the sensor information to the vehicle 7 traveling on the road.
The provided information S2 of the present embodiment is dynamic information. Dynamic information is dynamic data that requires a delay time of 1 second or less. For example, sensor information including the current position of a moving object and signal information, which are utilized as ITS look-ahead information, correspond to dynamic information.

A vehicle 7 has an onboard device that communicates using a wireless medium 6 . The in-vehicle device includes a navigation device that uses the provided information (signal information, sensor information, etc.) S2 for the vehicle provided from the roadside relay device 2 to alert the driver with screen display or voice. .
When the vehicle 7 is, for example, an automatic driving vehicle of level 4 or higher, the vehicle-oriented provided information (signal information, sensor information, etc.) S2 is also used for automatic driving control.

An in-vehicle device of the vehicle 7 is capable of vehicle-to-vehicle communication and road-to-vehicle communication by a wireless communication system such as ITS or LTE-V2X (Vehicle to X).
The transmission information of the vehicle 7 includes vehicle information S3 representing the current position, speed, running state, and the like of the own vehicle. When receiving the vehicle information S3 from the vehicle 7 , the roadside relay device 2 can transfer the received vehicle information S3 to the central device 1 . However, the vehicle information S3 may not be transferred to the central unit 1 in some cases. The contents of the vehicle information S3 (FIG. 5) used for determining whether or not to log-collect the provided information S2 will be described later.

[Internal configuration of roadside repeater]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the roadside relay device 2. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2 , the roadside relay device 2 includes a housing 20 and a plurality of electronic devices housed in the housing 20 . The multiple electronic devices include an upper communication unit 21, a plurality of lower communication units 22 and 23, a communication control unit 24, a storage unit 25, and a synchronization processing unit 26. The communication units 21 to 23, storage unit 25, and synchronization processing unit 26 are electrically connected to the communication control unit 24, respectively.

Among the plurality of lower communication units 22 and 23 , the lower communication unit 22 is a communication interface (wired communication unit) that transmits and receives transmission signals via the wired medium 5 . The lower communication unit 23 is a communication interface (wireless communication unit) that transmits and receives transmission signals via the wireless medium 6 .
Although two wired communication units 22 on the lower side are illustrated in FIG. 2 , three or more wired communication units 22 may be mounted on one roadside relay device 2 .

The upper communication unit 21 is a communication interface (first communication unit) for communication with the central device 1 . The host communication unit 21 executes predetermined signal processing (modulation/demodulation, AD/DA conversion, etc.) based on the host transmission system.
The lower communication unit 22 is a communication interface (second communication unit) for communication with the information source device 3 (traffic controller 3A and roadside sensor 3B in FIG. 2). The lower side communication unit 22 executes predetermined signal processing (modulation/demodulation, AD/DA conversion, etc.) based on the lower side transmission system.

The lower communication unit 23 is a communication interface (third communication unit) for communication with the vehicle 7. The lower side communication unit 23 executes predetermined signal processing (modulation/demodulation, AD/DA conversion, etc.) based on the lower side transmission system.

The upper communication unit (first communication unit) 21 demodulates the transmission signal (carrier signal) input from the upper communication path formed by the wired medium 4 and reproduces the received frame. The upper communication unit 21 outputs the reproduced received frame to the communication control unit 24 .
The upper communication unit (first communication unit) 21 modulates the transmission frame input from the communication control unit 24 into a transmission signal of a predetermined frequency. The upper communication unit 21 outputs the modulated transmission signal to the upper communication path formed by the wired medium 4 .

The lower communication unit (second communication unit) 22 demodulates the transmission signal (carrier signal) input from the lower communication channel formed by the wired medium 5 and reproduces the received frame. The lower communication unit 22 outputs the reproduced received frame to the communication control unit 24 .
The lower communication unit (second communication unit) 22 modulates the transmission frame input from the communication control unit 24 into a transmission signal of a predetermined frequency. The lower communication unit 22 outputs the modulated transmission signal to the lower communication channel formed by the wired medium 5 .

The lower communication unit (third communication unit) 23 demodulates the transmission signal (carrier signal) input from the lower communication channel formed by the wireless medium 6 to reproduce the received frame. The lower communication unit 23 outputs the reproduced received frame to the communication control unit 24 .
The lower communication unit (third communication unit) 23 modulates the transmission frame input from the communication control unit 24 into a transmission signal of a predetermined frequency. The lower communication unit 23 sends the modulated transmission signal to the lower communication channel formed by the wireless medium 6 .

The communication control unit 24 is composed of an arithmetic processing unit including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The communication control unit 24 may include an integrated circuit such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array).
The communication control unit 24 reads the computer program stored in the storage unit 25 into the main memory (RAM) and performs various information processing according to the program.

The storage unit 25 is composed of an auxiliary storage device including a non-volatile memory such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and an SDD (Solid State Drive).
The storage unit 25 may include a flash ROM (Read Only Memory), a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, an SD card, or the like.

The communication control unit 24 has a function of relaying communication frames. Specifically, the communication control unit 24 determines to which communication unit 21 to 23 the transmission frame containing information extracted from the received frame input from the communication units 21 to 23 is to be output according to preset route information. decide.
The communication control unit 24 has a communication frame format conversion function. Specifically, the communication control unit 24 performs format conversion from the upper transmission method to the lower transmission method for downstream frames relayed from the upper communication unit 21 to the lower communication units 22 and 23 .

Contrary to the above, the communication control unit 24 performs format conversion from the lower-side transmission method to the upper-side transmission method for upstream frames relayed from the lower- side communication units 22 and 23 to the upper-side communication unit 21. do.
However, when the upper transmission method and the lower transmission method are the same (for example, when both are UD type transmission methods), the communication control unit 24 does not perform the above format conversion, and the MAC address, IP address, etc. routing is done based on

In the roadside relay device 2 of this embodiment, the communication control unit 24 executes the following relay processes 1 to 3 for each of the information S1 to S3 described above.
Relay processing 1: State information S1 from lower communication unit 22→relay to higher communication unit 21 If so, it generates a transmission frame containing the state information S1 extracted from the received frame, and outputs the generated transmission frame to the upper communication unit 21 .

Relay processing 2: relaying provided information S2 from lower communication unit 22 to lower communication unit 23 If so, it generates a transmission frame containing the provided information S2 extracted from the received frame, and outputs the generated transmission frame to the lower communication unit 23 .

Relay process 3: Vehicle information S3 from lower communication unit 23→relay to higher communication unit 21 If so, it generates a transmission frame containing the vehicle information S3 extracted from the reception frame, and outputs the generated transmission frame to the upper communication unit 21 .

However, as an operation form of the traffic control system 10, there are cases where the above-described relay processing is not executed.
In this embodiment, the communication control unit 24 of the roadside relay device 2 can also execute "limited log collection" regarding the provided information S2 for vehicles. Details of this processing will be described later.

The synchronization processing unit 26 is a processing unit for achieving time synchronization with other communication nodes such as the central device 1 by a predetermined synchronization method. The communication control unit 24 determines the reception time and transmission timing of the communication frame according to the local time generated by the synchronization processing unit 26 .
The synchronization method of the synchronization processing unit 26 is, for example, a synchronization method based on the output of a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver, or a synchronization method using communication frames such as NTP (Network Time Protocol) and PTP (Precision Time Protocol). etc. can be adopted.

[Necessity and problems of management of provided information]
In the current traffic control system 10, the control object of the central unit 1 is only the state information (control information, presence or absence of failure, etc.) S1 of the information source unit 3, and the provided information S2 for vehicles is not managed by the central unit 1. often.
In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, the roadside relay device 2 wirelessly transmits the vehicle-oriented provided information (signal information, sensor information, etc.) S2 received from the information source device 3 to the vehicle 7 by broadcasting or the like. It is not transmitted to the central unit 1.

However, as automated driving (especially level 4 or higher) using provided information S2 becomes widespread, what kind of provided information S2 will be used to determine whether the cause of a traffic accident is the infrastructure side or the vehicle side. The timing at which it was provided is important.
Moreover, as safe driving support systems become more widespread, there is a possibility that even if the driver is a human, there will be a lawsuit claiming that the provided information S2 is the cause of the accident. Therefore, there is a demand that the central unit 1 should manage the provided information S2 for vehicles as well.

Therefore, it is conceivable that the roadside relay device 2 wirelessly transmits the vehicle-oriented provided information S2 to the central device 1 at the same time, and the central device 1 accumulates the received vehicle-oriented provided information S2 in a storage device. .
However, since the provided information S2 such as signal information and sensor information is dynamic information that changes rapidly over time, it is wirelessly transmitted at relatively short intervals (for example, 100 ms intervals) so that the vehicle 7 can perform real-time processing.

For this reason, in the method in which the roadside relay device 2 simply transmits the provision information S2 consisting of dynamic information to the central device 1, it is necessary to connect the central device 1 and the roadside relay device 2 with a broadband line, and the data capacity increases. requires a large amount of memory. Therefore, there is a problem that line cost and facility cost become high.

[Outline of limited log collection]
In view of the above problem, in this embodiment, the communication control unit 24 of the roadside relay device 2 determines whether or not there is a vehicle 7 that can use the provided information S2 based on the vehicle information S3, and determines whether the vehicle 7 exists. Log collection of the provided information S2 is performed only in the case. This is "limited log collection".
In this way, if only the provision information S2 that can actually be used is collected, it can be transmitted to the central unit 1 even with a relatively low-speed communication line, and the data capacity of the storage device of the central unit 1 can be reduced.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of limited log collection.
The communication control unit 24 of the roadside relay device 2 executes the process of FIG. 3 for each piece of provided information S2 in operation. Further, the communication control unit 24 executes the processing of FIG. 3 at a cycle equal to or shorter than the transmission cycle (for example, 100 ms) of the provided information S2 for vehicles.
Hereinafter, the vehicle 7 that is estimated to have the possibility of using the provided information S2 for vehicles is referred to as a "target vehicle", and the vehicle 7 that is estimated to have no possibility of using the provided information S2 for vehicles is referred to as the "target outside vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 3, the communication control unit 24 first determines whether or not the provided information S2 for the vehicle is received from the information source device 3 (step ST11). This determination is made based on, for example, whether or not a received frame including the provided information S2 has been input from the lower communication unit 22 .
If the determination result of step ST11 is negative, the communication control section 24 terminates the process. When the determination result of step ST11 is affirmative, the communication control unit 24 determines whether or not the "first condition" is satisfied (step ST12).

The first condition is one of the conditions for saying that there is a target vehicle (which leads to availability of the provided information S2). In this embodiment, the first condition is that the vehicle 7 exists within the service target area of the provided information S2.
A "service area" is an area on a road set for each piece of provided information S2. Since the vehicle 7 outside the area cannot appropriately use the provided information S2 even if it receives it, the presence of the vehicle 7 within the area is one of the conditions for determining that there is a target vehicle.

For example, in the case of a service that provides traffic signal information for the first direction of the four inflows at a crossroad intersection, the service target area is a predetermined distance from the stop line in the first direction inflow (for example, 150 m) to a point on the upstream side.
In the case of a service that provides a vehicle 7 with sensor information including the current position of a pedestrian 8 passing through a pedestrian crossing where a right turn is to be made, the service target area is a road section corresponding to the length of the right-turn lane, for example, on the inflow road. be.

In the case of a service that provides a vehicle 7 with sensor information including the current position of a pedestrian 8 passing through a pedestrian crossing before turning left, the service target area is a predetermined distance (e.g., 80 m) from the stop line on the inflow road including the left turn lane. ) is the road section up to the point on the upstream side.
In the case of a service that provides the vehicle 7 with sensor information including the current positions of other vehicles traveling on the crossroads in order to prevent collisions at unsignalized intersections, the service target area is a predetermined distance from the intersection ( For example, 80 m) is a road section to a point on the upstream side.

If the determination result of step ST12 is negative, the communication control section 24 terminates the process. When the determination result of step ST12 is affirmative, the communication control section 24 further determines whether or not the "second condition" is satisfied (step ST13).
As described above, in the present embodiment, a second condition different from the first condition is added as one of the conditions for saying that there is a target vehicle (which leads to availability of the provided information S2).

The reason is that even if the vehicle 7 exists within the service area (the first condition is satisfied), for example, if the vehicle 7 refuses the service provided by the provided information S2, the provided information S2 is not provided. because it is not used.
Since there are a plurality of specific examples of the second condition to be added to the first condition according to the type of the vehicle information S3, details of the second condition will be described later.

If the determination result of step ST13 is negative, the communication control section 24 terminates the process. When the determination result of step ST13 is affirmative, the communication control unit 24 executes log collection of the provided information S2 (step ST14).
The log collection of the provided information S2 is a process of adding time information to the obtained provided information S2, classifying the provided information S2 with time information according to type, and storing it in the storage unit 25 . The time information is, for example, the reception time (date and time) of the received frame including the provided information S2.

The communication control unit 24 of the roadside relay device 2 reads the provided information S2 from the storage unit 25 and transmits it to the central device 1 when the amount of accumulated data of the provided information S2 with time information reaches or exceeds a predetermined amount.
Specifically, the communication control unit 24 generates a transmission frame including the provided information S2 read from the storage unit 25 and inputs the generated transmission frame to the upper communication unit 21 . It is preferable that the processing for transmitting the provided information S2 is performed during a time period when the communication band of the higher-level communication path is not tight.

[Change in communication status of roadside relay device]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing changes in the communication state of the roadside relay device 2. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the roadside relay device 2 performs log collection of the provided information S2 when the target vehicle exists (when the provided information S2 is available).
After that, the roadside relay device 2 transmits the collected provision information S2 with time information to the central device 1 . The central device 1 accumulates the provided information S2 with time information received from the roadside relay device 2 in its own database.

When the target vehicle does not exist (when there is no availability of the provided information S2), that is, when only non-targeted vehicles exist or no vehicle exists, the roadside relay device 2 executes log collection of the provided information S2. do not do.
Whether or not there is a vehicle can be determined, for example, by not receiving the vehicle information S3 continuously over a predetermined period (for example, two minutes).

The roadside relay device 2 executes the following relay processes 1 and 2 regardless of whether or not the target vehicle exists. In addition, when the relay processing 3 below is operated, the roadside relay device 2 executes the relay processing 3 regardless of whether or not the target vehicle exists.
Relay processing 1: State information S1 from information source device 3→relay to central device 1 Relay processing 2: Provided information S2 from information source device 3→relay to vehicle 7 Relay processing 3: Vehicle information S3 from vehicle 7→central Relay to device 1

[Specific example of vehicle information]
FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of the vehicle information S3 used for determining the presence or absence of the target vehicle.
As shown in FIG. 5, items of the vehicle information S3 transmitted by the vehicle 7 include "driving position", "vehicle type", "service type", "service setting state", "advance direction", and "scheduled route information". ” is included.

“Driving position” is position information (latitude, longitude, altitude, etc.) representing the current position of the vehicle 7 . The position information of the vehicle 7 is acquired from a GNSS receiver or the like included in the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle 7 .
"Vehicle type" is identification information that identifies the vehicle 7 by its size and purpose. Vehicle types include, for example, two-wheeled vehicles, ordinary vehicles, large vehicles, private vehicles, freight vehicles, taxis, route buses, ambulances, and police cars.

"Service type" is identification information representing a service actually used by the vehicle 7 among services provided by the infrastructure. The contents of the service type include, for example, a service providing information on the current lighting state of traffic lights, a service providing information on future lighting states of traffic lights, a service providing information on pedestrian crossings, and the like.
The “service setting state” is identification information representing the permission/prohibition state of service use, which is set by the user of the vehicle 7 . "Service setting state=ON" indicates service allowed, and "service setting state=OFF" indicates service denied.

“Advance direction” is angle information representing the travel direction of the vehicle 7 during travel. The traveling azimuth is represented, for example, by a clockwise angle with true north being 0 degrees. The direction of travel is acquired from a GNSS receiver, a gyro sensor, or the like included in an in-vehicle device of the vehicle 7 .
The “planned route” is route information on which the vehicle 7 is scheduled to travel. The planned route information is composed of, for example, link data corresponding to roads and node data corresponding to intersections.

[Conditions for judging the presence or absence of the target vehicle]
FIG. 6 is a table summarizing the types and contents of conditions used for determining the presence or absence of a target vehicle.
As shown in FIG. 6, the types of conditions include the first condition "area condition", the second condition "vehicle type condition", "service type condition", "state condition", "direction condition", and "route conditions".

The area condition (first condition) is that the traveling position of the vehicle information S3 exists within the service target area. Therefore, when the travel position is not within the service area, the roadside relay device 2 does not perform log collection of the provision information S2 that employs the service area.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on the area condition (first condition). "Radio antenna" in FIG. 7 indicates the antenna position of the roadside relay device 2, and "Radio area" indicates the radio wave receiving area of the roadside relay device 2. FIG. This point is the same for FIGS. 8 to 12 as well.

As shown in FIG. 7, assume an intersection J1 in which the service target area is set on the inflow road facing north (upward in FIG. 7).
In this case, when the travel position of the vehicle information S3 is within the service target area by determination based on the area condition (first condition), log collection of the provided information S2 that employs the area can be executed. Conversely, when the travel position of the vehicle information S3 is outside the service area, log collection of the provided information S2 that employs the area is not executed.

The vehicle type condition (second condition) is that the vehicle type in the vehicle information S3 matches the serviced vehicle type on the infrastructure side. Therefore, the roadside relay device 2 does not perform log collection of the provision information S2 regarding the service when there is no vehicle 7 of the specific vehicle type at the intersection where the service limited to the specific vehicle type (for example, route bus) is provided.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on the vehicle type condition (second condition).
As shown in FIG. 8, assume an intersection J2 that provides services for private cars. In this case, when the vehicle type of the vehicle information S3 is a privately-owned vehicle by determination based on the vehicle type condition (second condition), log collection of the provision information S2 of the service for privately-owned vehicle can be executed. Conversely, when the vehicle type of the vehicle information S3 is a route bus, log collection of the provision information S2 of the service for privately-owned vehicles is not performed.

The service type condition (second condition) is that the service type of the vehicle information S3 matches the service type on the infrastructure side. Therefore, if there is no vehicle 7 using the specific service at the intersection where the specific service (for example, signal information providing service) is provided, the roadside relay device 2 does not perform log collection of the service provision information S2. .

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on the service type (second condition).
As shown in FIG. 9, it is assumed that the service type used by the vehicle 7 is the signal information service. In this case, when it is determined based on the service type (second condition) that the service type being provided is the signal information service at the intersection J3, log collection of the provision information S2 of the signal information service can be performed. Conversely, when the type of service being provided is the pedestrian information service at the intersection J4, log collection of the provided information S2 of the pedestrian information service is not performed.

The state condition (second condition) is that the service setting state of the vehicle information S3 is ON (service permitted). Therefore, when there is no vehicle 7 whose service setting state is set to ON, the roadside relay device 2 does not perform log collection of the provision information S2 regarding the service.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on the state condition (second condition).
As shown in FIG. 10, assume an intersection J5 that provides a signal information service. In this case, when the service setting state of the vehicle information S3 is ON (service permitted) by determination based on the state condition (second condition), log collection of the provision information S2 of the signal information service can be executed. Conversely, when the service setting state of the vehicle information S3 is OFF (service permitted or denied), log collection of the provision information S2 of the signal information service is not executed.

The azimuth condition (second condition) is that the traveling azimuth of the vehicle information S3 matches the service target azimuth on the infrastructure side. Therefore, when there is no vehicle 7 traveling toward the service target direction defined for each service, the roadside relay device 2 does not perform log collection of the provision information S2 adopting the service target direction.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on the azimuth condition (second condition).
As shown in FIG. 11, assume an intersection J6 where the service target direction is set to the north of the inflow road (upward in FIG. 7). In this case, if the traveling direction of the vehicle information S3 matches the service target direction by determination based on the direction condition (second condition), log collection of the provided information S2 that adopts the target direction can be executed. Conversely, if the traveling direction of the vehicle information S3 does not match the service target direction, log collection of the provided information S2 adopting the target direction is not executed.

The route condition (second condition) is that the scheduled route in the vehicle information S3 matches the service target route on the infrastructure side. Therefore, when there is no vehicle 7 traveling on the service target route specified for each service, the roadside relay device 2 does not perform log collection of the provision information S2 that adopts the service target route.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of determination based on route conditions (second conditions).
As shown in FIG. 12, it is assumed that the route to be serviced is an intersection J7 set as a route that goes straight northward (upward in FIG. 12) at the intersection J7. In this case, when the scheduled route (straight) of the vehicle information S3 matches the service target route (straight) by determination based on the route condition (second condition), the log collection of the provided information S2 adopting the target route is performed. can be performed. Conversely, when the scheduled route (right turn) of the vehicle information S3 does not match the service target route (straight ahead), log collection of the provision information S2 that adopts the target route is not executed.

As is clear from the above, the contents of the "limited log collection" executed by the communication control unit 24 of the roadside relay device 2 can be summarized as follows.
The communication control unit 24 of the roadside relay device 2 sets "first condition" (area condition) and "second condition" (at least one of vehicle type condition, service type condition, state condition, azimuth condition, and route condition). is satisfied for each type of the provided information S2 for vehicles, and log collection of the provided information S2 of the type is performed only when the determination result is affirmative.

However, the limited log collection executed by the communication control unit 24 of the roadside relay device 2 is not limited to the AND condition of the first condition and the second condition, and is performed when any one of the conditions is satisfied. It may be processing.
That is, the communication control unit 24 of the roadside relay device 2 may execute log collection when only the first condition is satisfied, or when only the second condition is satisfied.

[Modification of Traffic Management System]
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a modification of the traffic management system 11. As shown in FIG.
In the modified example of FIG. 13, the traffic management system 11 is composed of a different communication network from the traffic control system 10 including the central device 1 . That is, the traffic management system 11 includes a management device 12 which is a server device different from the central device 1 , a roadside relay device 2 and an information source device 3 . Therefore, the roadside relay device 2 belongs to the traffic management system 11 but does not belong to the traffic control system 10 .

The information source device 3 connected to the roadside relay device 2 includes at least one of a traffic controller 3A and a roadside sensor 3B.
The traffic control system 10 includes a central device 1 installed in a traffic control center or the like, and a traffic signal controller 3A communicating with the central device 1 via a dedicated network 13 . Although the roadside sensor 3B is not connected to the dedicated network 13 in the example of FIG.

The management device 12 is a server device such as an on-premises server or a cloud server, and has a communication device (not shown) capable of communication based on a predetermined lower-order transmission method. The roadside relay device 2 is a communication device having a function of relaying communication between the management device 12 and the information source device 3 .
The management device 12 and the roadside relay device 2 are connected via a public network 14 including the Internet. Note that the higher-level communication path of the roadside relay device 2 may include a wireless medium complying with standards such as LTE or 5G.

The lower communication path of the roadside relay device 2 includes a wired medium (communication cable) 5 such as a dedicated line or private line. Therefore, at least one information source device 3 can be connected to the roadside relay device 2 via the wired medium 5 . The roadside relay device 2 may communicate with the information source device 3 via the wireless medium 6 .
The wireless medium 6 is also included in the lower communication path of the roadside relay device 2 . The roadside relay device 2 can also wirelessly communicate with the vehicle 7 traveling on the road via the wireless medium 6 . The wireless medium 6 is, for example, a wireless medium of a predetermined frequency band complying with standards such as ITS or LTE.

The traffic signal controller 3A transmits the state information S1 of its own device to the central device 1 of the traffic control system 10, but transmits the signal information to the roadside relay device 2 of the traffic management system 11. FIG.
Signal information is a kind of provision information S2 for vehicles. Therefore, the roadside relay device 2 wirelessly transmits (for example, broadcasts) the received signal information to provide the signal information to the vehicle 7 traveling on the road.

The roadside sensor 3B transmits sensor information to the roadside relay device 2 . Sensor information is a kind of provided information S2 for vehicles. Therefore, the roadside relay device 2 wirelessly transmits (for example, broadcasts) the received sensor information to provide the sensor information to the vehicle 7 traveling on the road.
The in-vehicle device of the vehicle 7 is capable of vehicle-to-vehicle communication and road-to-vehicle communication by a wireless communication system such as ITS or LTE-V2X. The transmission information of the vehicle 7 includes vehicle information S3 representing the current position, speed, running state, and the like of the own vehicle.

The vehicle information S3 includes, for example, the information shown in FIG. 5, and is used to determine whether log collection of the provided information S2 should be performed. Specifically, the roadside relay device 2 shown in FIG. 13 also has the communication control unit 24 (see FIG. 2) capable of executing the above-described "limited log collection".
That is, the communication control unit 24 determines whether or not there is a vehicle 7 that can use the provided information S2 based on the vehicle information S3, and collects logs of the provided information S2 only when the vehicle 7 is present. The collected provided information S2 is transmitted to the management device 12 and stored in the database.

[Other Modifications]
The embodiments disclosed this time are illustrative in all respects and are not restrictive. The scope of rights of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes all modifications within the scope of equivalents to the configurations described in the claims.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, an external type wireless communication device is adopted as the lower communication unit (wireless communication unit) 23 of the roadside relay device 2, and the wireless communication device is connected to the lower connection unit 22 by a communication cable. The device configuration may be such that

In the above-described embodiment, the upper communication unit (first communication unit) 21, the lower communication unit (second communication unit) 22, and the lower communication unit (third communication unit), which are components of the roadside relay device 2 23 is composed of three communication interfaces (devices), but these communication units 21 to 23 are integrated into one or two devices that share layers 3 and below of the OSI reference model, for example. may be a part.

1 Central device (management device)
2 Roadside relay device (communication device)
3 Information source device (communication device)
3A traffic signal controller (information source device)
3B roadside sensor (information source device)
4 Wired media (communication cable)
5 Wired media (communication cable)
6 wireless medium 7 vehicle 8 pedestrian 10 traffic control system (traffic management system)
11 traffic management system 12 management device 13 dedicated network 14 public network 20 housing 21 higher side communication unit (cable communication unit, first communication unit)
22 Lower side communication unit (wired communication unit, second communication unit)
23 lower communication unit (wireless communication unit, third communication unit)
24 Communication control unit 25 Storage unit 26 Synchronization processing unit S1 State information S2 Provided information for vehicles S3 Vehicle information

Claims (11)

1. a first communication unit for communication with the management device;
   a second communication unit for communication with the information source device;
   a third communication unit for communication with the vehicle;
   a communication control unit that extracts provided information for a vehicle from the received frame of the second communication unit and outputs a transmission frame containing the extracted provided information to the third communication unit;
   The communication control unit
   Based on the vehicle information included in the received frame of the third communication unit, it is determined whether or not a condition leading to the availability of the provided information is satisfied, and if the condition is satisfied, log collection of the provided information is executed. Roadside repeater.
2. The roadside relay device according to claim 1, wherein the conditions include at least one of the following first condition and second condition.
   1st condition: The vehicle exists within the service area of the provided information for vehicles 2nd condition: A different condition from the 1st condition that leads to the availability of the provided information for vehicles
3. The vehicle information includes a travel position of the vehicle,
   The communication control unit
   3. The roadside communication device according to claim 2, wherein whether or not the first condition is met is determined based on whether or not the travel position is within the service area.
4. The vehicle information includes the vehicle type of the vehicle,
   The second condition includes:
   4. The roadside relay device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the vehicle type includes a vehicle type to be serviced on the infrastructure side.
5. The vehicle information includes a service type being used by the vehicle,
   The second condition includes:
   5. The roadside relay device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein said service type includes a match with a service type on the infrastructure side.
6. The vehicle information includes a service setting state indicating permission or denial of service use,
   The second condition includes:
   6. The roadside relay device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein said service setting state includes permission.
7. The vehicle information includes the traveling direction of the vehicle,
   The second condition includes:
   7. The roadside relay device according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein said direction of travel coincides with a service target direction on the infrastructure side.
8. the vehicle information includes a planned route of the vehicle;
   The second condition includes:
   8. The roadside relay device according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein said scheduled route coincides with a service target route on the infrastructure side.
9. The management target of the management device includes the operating state of the information source device,
   The communication control unit
   a relay process of extracting state information of the information source device from a frame received by the second communication unit and outputting a transmission frame including the extracted state information to the first communication unit;
   The roadside relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the relay processing of the state information is executed regardless of whether the conditions are met.
10. a management device;
    a roadside relay device that communicates with the management device;
    and an information source device that communicates with the management device via the roadside relay device,
    The roadside relay device,
    a relay process for wirelessly transmitting to the vehicle the provided information for the vehicle received from the information source device;
    determining the success or failure of a condition leading to availability of the provided information based on the vehicle information received from the vehicle;
    log collection of the provided information whose execution is permitted when the condition is satisfied; and
11. a management device;
    a roadside relay device that communicates with the management device;
    an information source device that communicates with the management device via the roadside relay device, the log collection method performed in a traffic management system comprising:
    a step in which the roadside relay device wirelessly transmits to the vehicle the provided information for the vehicle received from the information source device;
    a step in which the roadside communication device determines, based on the vehicle information received from the vehicle, the success or failure of a condition leading to the availability of the provided information;
    A log collection method, comprising: executing log collection of the provided information by the roadside communication device when the condition is satisfied.

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