EP1966780B1 - Method for coding messages, method for decoding messages and receiver for receiving and evaluating messages - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves including supplementary messages (32,33), which can be conveyed separately, in contents of messages. The supplementary messages contain supplementing message contents. The message contents include specification of events and include specification for a location of events. The supplementary message contents include specification for one event, which stays in casual or local connection with another event. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) a method for decoding messages e.g. traffic messages, which can be conveyed (2) a receiver for receiving messages.

Description

The present invention relates to a method for coding messages, a method for decoding messages and a receiver for receiving and evaluating messages according to the category of independent patent claims.

State of the art

Out DE 35 36 820 C2 and ISO 14819 it is known to broadcast traffic information in the form of digitally coded messages in addition to radio programs on radio frequencies to describe traffic-related situations, especially traffic congestion in the road network. These TMC (Traffic Message Channel) traffic messages include location information about the location of a traffic jam in coded form.

ISO 14819 further discloses so-called multi-sequence messages in which traffic information is transmitted in a plurality of groups of the RDS signal, wherein, however, the plurality of groups comprising traffic information must be transmitted directly one after the other.

In DE 199 05 893 A1 an extension of conventional traffic announcements according to the TMC standard is proposed. For this purpose, it is provided there to add to the standardized messages, which regularly contain a location code and thus an indication of a location of a traffic-relevant event, a supplementary location description which precedes the actual message header is announced. Thus, a location description is no longer restricted to motorway interchanges coded in the TMC location database, motorway junctions and triangles, and the like, or the intervening sections, but allows a further description of an event location.

A more precise localization of an event location is also the subject of DE 100 15 935 A1 , There, it is proposed, in addition to a section affected by a traffic disturbance, which can be defined by an adjacent location coded in the TMC location database, to transmit a distance share or comparable linear parameter which enables a more precise localization of an event location on the encoded route section ,

From the EP-A-1445750 Furthermore, a method for coding traffic information to be transmitted is known, which traffic announcements comprise at least a description of events and a description of a location of the event, in which method such a traffic message receives a reference to a supplementary, to be transmitted separately supplementary message which supplementary message supplementary message content This supplementary message content is aimed at giving more precise information on the event encoded in the main traffic message.

The traffic situations to be conveyed by means of a traffic report may be simple or complex, for example "10km stagnant traffic" is a simple situation description and "10km stagnant traffic, construction site, lane narrowing, average speed = 20km / h" is a complex situation description. Such complex situation descriptions can be determined by means of TMC (Traffic Message Channel as specified in ISO 14819) by so-called "multi-sequence messages", i. several indexed consecutive single messages are described.

The disadvantage here is that all individual events of a complex situation description always have to refer to the same location, ie the same road section, so that the message as complex Situation description can be displayed in the terminal. Furthermore, all events of a situation must be sent at the same time. Although updates are possible, all messages must always be updated with all included events. Attaching additional events to an already sent message is not possible. Extended complex example: "Between AS Laatzen and AS Hildesheim 10km of traffic, construction site, road constriction, average speed = 20km / h". The single events "stalling traffic", "construction site", "road constriction" and "Vd = 20km / h" must refer to the same location, in this case the same section of road between the junctions. If the events overlap or relate to each other neighboring, different places must be transmitted several separate messages. A combination of the messages in order to enable a compact representation is very complex on the terminal side.

Another disadvantage is that no relation between messages is possible that come from different sources. In the future it can be expected that different descriptions of the situation will be provided by different sources. For example, traffic congestion, such as traffic jams or accidents are detected by the police through the regional registration offices, longer-term status information such as construction sites or blockages are provided by third party providers - possibly also as a payment service. Example: Real situation: "10km congestion and 5km construction site" Assuming that the construction site is longer and regularly broadcast by provider X, for example a broadcaster. The traffic jam occurs spontaneously and is reported for a relatively short time by a national registration office. There is no possibility of combining both single messages into a complex message in the case of TMC traffic reports currently broadcast via broadcasting.

Advantages of the invention

The desire of the driver is to obtain a compact representation of the traffic situation, which makes it easier for him to identify the overall situation and better assess the situation on the ground. For example, a traffic jam with a subsequent construction site must be summarized in such a way that the driver is initially only made aware of the most important event for him, rather than on two separate individual events.

The present invention with the features of the independent claims advantageously allows
complex traffic situations whose individual events are spatially overlapping or interleaved, or
Traffic situations directly adjacent to one another, or
Traffic situations that are emitted by different providers or traffic situations that are spatially separate and have a different relationship to one another, for example due to the direct effects of a traffic incident on a following, be marked so that they can be recognized by the received terminal as belonging together and compact.

In this method, the terminal can determine exactly which associated messages must be received before a complete description of the traffic situation can be released to further processing components, such as, for example, display, language and / or route calculation of a driver information system. This avoids unnecessary route calculations or changing map or text messages.

Further, the invention enables the prioritization of individual events in the processing, display or announcement by the terminal. The invention further enables compact textual display and map display of interleaved events by the terminal. Information to the user, in particular a driver can be constructed so that first the most important, in particular that of several events, which has the most serious impact, for example on the traffic flow on a road section or displayed and displayed details only on further request. This avoids irritation or information overload for the user.

In the method according to the invention for coding messages to be transmitted, in particular traffic reports, wherein the messages comprise message contents, it is provided that a message has at least one reference to a supplementary supplementary message to be transmitted separately, which supplementary message contains supplementary message contents. Separately means that message and supplementary message / s do not necessarily have to be sent directly consecutively in the data stream and that they can have an arbitrary temporal distance (within limits).

drawings

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the figures and are explained in more detail below.

Show it

• FIG. 1 a schematic representation of interleaved traffic events,
• FIG. 2 the basic structure of messages coded according to the invention, in particular traffic reports,
• FIGS. 3A and 3B the structure of a traffic message to describe the traffic events according to FIG. 1 .
• FIG. 4 a block diagram of a terminal for the processing of inventively connected messages
• FIG. 5 a flowchart for processing the encoded according to the invention messages in a terminal according to FIG. 4 ,

Description of the embodiments

The method according to the invention for the coding of messages is described using the example of traffic reports, that is to say messages about traffic incidents or other traffic-relevant messages which are transmitted for example via broadcasting, such as VHF broadcasting or digital broadcasting from a broadcasting station to a plurality of radio receivers.

FIG. 1 shows a route section 10, in the present case, for example, a highway section 10, between a first connection point A in the direction of travel (reference numeral 12) and a second connection point B (reference numeral 14). This has a total length of 21km. This section of the route now contains several traffic-related events that are related to each other. On the section 10 is located 3 km from the first junction A (12) away a construction site with a length of 15km (reference 22). Furthermore, within the construction site there is a roadway narrowing from, for example, 3 to 2

Lanes with a length of 10km (reference 23). As a result of the construction site and / or road constriction in the area of a congestion has formed over 10km in length (reference numeral 21).

For describing such interrelated traffic events, these are according to the invention in a message format according to FIG. 2 coded.

A message according to the invention, here traffic message, initially comprises a main message 31 (message 1), which has a message identification (ID) 311, here 123. This main message 31 comprises as message content the most important event (main event) 312 for the driver and / or his route, e.g. a traffic jam. In addition, the message optionally contains further, so-called implicit, events (SubEvent_1, reference numeral 313, SubEvent_2, reference numeral 314, ... SubEvent_n, reference numeral 315), e.g. Construction site, road constriction, etc., if they have the same local reference as the main event 312. If the local reference of the further, implicit events 313, 314, 315 are not equal or if detailed information is available from a provider other than the main message, the main message may contain so-called "external" sub-events 314, 315, with 314 for each of these external sub-events 315 is referred to a special message 32, 33 containing further information. The reference to associated further messages, which contain external sub-events 314, 315, takes place, for example, by specifying their message IDs (link ID = 124, reference number 317, link ID = 125, reference number 318).

In addition, a source element (reference numeral 316) may be provided that identifies the provider of the message. Furthermore, a type designation (reference numeral 319) may be provided, preferably for each event or sub-event, which indicates whether this is an event transmitted in the main message 31 (type = internal) or whether it is an external event, ie is an event transmitted in another supplementary message 32 or 33 (type = external).

Finally, the message, in particular in the case of a traffic report, preferably also has a location description 320 which indicates to which location the transmitted traffic report relates.

The further, ie supplementary messages 32 and 33, which are referred to by means of the link IDs 317 and 318, likewise comprise a message identifier (ID = 124, reference numeral 321, ID = 12n, reference numeral 331).

The further messages 32 to 33 may optionally have information on the cause (refer type = cause, reference numerals 322 and 332) and thereby complete the complex facts of the traffic situation. Furthermore, the further messages can also include additional location descriptions 323 and 333 and in each case an indication of the message provider (source) 324 and 334. The location descriptions of the supplementary messages can describe locations of the events contained in the supplementary messages and thus replace and / or supplement the location descriptions of the main message.

This described message structure has the particular advantage that the main message 31 already roughly contains the entire complexity of the situation to be described. The receiving terminal thus knows how many messages still have to be received in order to fully represent the facts.

The FIGS. 3A and 3B show the concrete structure of the traffic information according to the invention for the description of the traffic situation according to FIG. 1 ,

It is assumed that of the specified traffic-related events, namely 15km construction site (reference 22), 10km road constriction (reference numeral 23) and 10 kilometers of congestion (reference numeral 21) the congestion 21 is that event that is suitable for a driver Route calculation in a vehicle navigation system most seriously.

Since the traffic jam 21 and the lane narrowing 23 have the same local reference, namely the congestion start and the beginning of the lane constriction within the construction site 22 coincide at the same location 11, these two events become main event 312 and side event 1 (SubEvent_1) 313 in the main message 31 with the message number (ID = 123) 311 ( FIG. 3A ).

The main message comprises an identification or description of the main event, namely congestion of length 10 km (reference numeral 312), the reference to the information provider, here the provider X (reference numeral 314) and the location of the event (reference numeral 320), Here, for example, the removal of the beginning of the congestion from the junction A and / or the two connection points themselves. Further, the main message 31 includes information on the internal secondary event, namely the road constriction 23, namely their description 313 and the information that it is a " internal "secondary event acts (entry" Type = internal ").

In contrast, information about the additional incident, namely the construction site 22, transmitted as a further incident (SubEvent_2) in the further message 32, as this another location reference, namely not the beginning of the road constriction, but a point ahead in the direction of travel on the section 10th having. In the main message 31, reference is made to the further message 32 by stating the message number (link ID = 124, reference numeral 317) stating the existence of this further secondary event SubEvent_2 (reference numeral 314), in which information about the additional secondary event, namely the construction site 22, be transferred. Furthermore, the entry 314 is assigned an indication that the further secondary event is a so-called "external" secondary event, to which information is thus transmitted in a supplementary message.

The supplementary message then includes the further information on the secondary event, ie the construction site 22. These are a description of the incident or the traffic incident, "construction site, 15km" (325), the place of the event, here 3km after junction A (323) , the indication of the information provider 324) and, in addition, the message ID 124 (321).

The coding according to FIG. 3B differs essentially from that of FIG. 3A in that in this case the information on secondary event 1, that is to say of the lane narrowing 23, is provided by a different provider than the information relating to the main event, that is to say the congestion 21.

As a result, here are opposite FIG. 3A the information on the lane narrowing is not transmitted within the main message 31, but instead in the further supplementary message 33, which is referred to in the main message (314, 318).

The further supplementary message 33 then includes, like the first supplementary message 32, the further information on the further secondary event, ie the roadway narrowing 23. These are a description of the secondary event or traffic congestion, "lane congestion 10 km" (335), the location of the event, here the beginning of the lane narrowing (333), the information provider's information, here "Y" (334) and next to it the message ID 125 (331).

A device for processing received messages encoded according to the invention is exemplified in FIG FIG. 4 illustrated by a block diagram of a radio receiver eg for DAB, DVB, DRM, FM FM radio or satellite radio. The invention is not limited to radio receivers, but also with other radio receivers, such as receivers for beacon communication, as in the case of toll, the Japanese VICS (Vehicle Information & Communication System) and the like can be implemented.

1 shows the actual radio receiver or the receiving part. FIG. 2 designates a preprocessing unit connected to the receiving part 1 for coherent traffic reports. In this, the corresponding method for the composition of the individual partial messages 31, 32 and possibly further to a resulting overall message and the passing to block 3 implemented. 3 contains a unit which further processes the content of the composed messages or resulting messages, e.g. a display or navigation system with route calculation component.

The idea according to the invention relates to the identification and preprocessing of coherent messages of complex traffic situations and their compact representation in the terminal. After the terminal-side summary, the representation can be made graphically or textually compact.

1. 1.) In einer ersten Ansicht würde beispielsweise eine Nachricht angezeigt mit dem Inhalt "Zwischen Anschlussstelle A und Anschlussstelle B 10km Stau"
2. 2.) In einer zweiten, detaillierteren und durch den Benutzer durch eine entsprechende Bedieneingabe aufrufbaren Ansicht könnte die ergänzende Nachricht
   "wiegen 15km Baustelle und 10km Fahrbahnverengung"
   angezeigt werden, die die Ursache für das Verkehrsereignis darstellt.

In the terminal, the display of the message generated from the evaluated, received, inventively coded messages could then look like this.

1. 1.) In a first view, for example, a message would be displayed with the content "Between junction A and junction B 10km congestion"
2. 2.) In a second, more detailed and callable by the user through an appropriate operator input view, the supplementary message
   " weigh 15km construction site and 10km road constriction "
   which is the cause of the traffic event.

For presentation in the terminal, the received messages coded according to the invention must first be decoded and combined to form a resulting message. The required procedure is based on a schedule in FIG. 5 shown.

The process begins in step 100 with the tuning of the receiving part 1 to a radio transmitter which transmits encoded messages according to the invention, in particular traffic reports. In the present example, this is, for example, an FM broadcasting station, which transmits digitally coded information in addition to the radio program via the Radio Data Signal (RDS) according to DIN EN 50 067.

In step 110, it is checked whether the received messages 31 contain references 317, 318 to supplementary messages 32, 33. If this is not the case, i. If supplementary messages are not broadcast for a received message, the content of the received message 30 can be decoded immediately and sent to a further processing 120 (block 3), ie displayed on a display or included in a route calculation in a navigation system 3, for example.

If the received message 31 contains one or more references 317, 318 to supplementary messages 32, 33, these are read in in step 130. In step 140 it is checked whether all referenced supplementary messages have been read. These Checking can be done, for example, by matching the referenced message IDs 321, 331 of the supplementary messages with the references 317, 318 of the main message. If not all referenced supplementary messages have been read in, the sequence continues with the further reading of the supplementary messages in step 130.

If all referenced supplementary messages 32, 33 have been read in to the main message 31, a resulting message is generated in a compact representation from the message contents of the main and supplementary messages in step 150. In the case of the example of Figures 1 and 3B For example, the main event with the associated location description becomes the main message
"Between junction A and junction B 10km congestion"
summarized. The minor events become an explanation of a supplemental message
"because of 15km construction site (, 3km to junction A,) and 10km road narrowing (, 5km to junction A,)"
or
"because of 15km construction site (, 3km to junction A) and 10km road narrowing (, 2km after construction site start)"
summarized, which can be retrieved, for example, on special request of the user by an appropriate user input. The additions in brackets can be maintained for output in a third concretization level or output with the first detailing.

An advantage of the invention is also that, for example, the location information for certain major or minor events in the present or similar cases based on the location information in the main and supplementary messages can be linked to the resulting location information.

• Es wird angenommen, dass in der Hauptmeldung 31 als Ortsangabe für den Stau die Ortsinformation
• 5km nach Anschlussstelle A
• übertragen wird. Es wird ferner angenommen, dass für die Baustelle in der ersten Ergänzungsmeldung 32 die Ortsangabe
• 3km nach Anschlussstelle A '
• übertragen wird. Schließlich wird angenommen, dass für die Fahrbahnverengung in der zweiten Ergänzungsmeldung 33 die Ortsangabe
• 5km nach Anschlussstelle A
• übertragen wird.
• Aus diesen Meldungsinhalten kann der Empfänger eine resultierende Nachricht etwa in der Form
• "Zwischen Anschlussstelle A und Anschlussstelle B 10km Stau"
• mit der Ergänzung
• "wegen 15km Baustelle, Baustellenbeginn 3km nach Anschlussstelle A"
• und
• "Staubeginn 2km nach Baustellenbeginn"
• zusammen gefasst werden. Das heißt, aus den Einzelinformationen der einzelnen Meldungen können resultierende Informationen, wie hier 2km nach Baustellenbeginn, errechnete oder anderweit synthetisiert werden, die dem Benutzer eine Orientierung erleichtern. Diese textuellen Informationen sind gleichermaßen auf einem Display anzeigbar oder durch eine Sprachausgabe, insbesondere unter Verwendung einer Sprachsyntheseeinrichtung, akustisch ausgebbar.

Example:

• It is assumed that in the main message 31 as a location for the congestion, the location information
• 5km to junction A
• is transmitted. It is further assumed that for the construction site in the first supplementary message 32, the location
• 3km to junction A '
• is transmitted. Finally, it is assumed that for the road constriction in the second supplementary message 33, the location
• 5km to junction A
• is transmitted.
• From this message content, the recipient may receive a resulting message in about the form
• "Between junction A and junction B 10km congestion"
• with the supplement
• "because of 15km construction site, construction site start 3km after junction A"
• and
• "Start of dust 2km after start of construction"
• be summarized. This means that resulting information, such as here 2km after construction site start, can be calculated or otherwise synthesized from the individual information of the individual messages, giving the user an orientation facilitate. This textual information can equally be displayed on a display or acoustically output by a voice output, in particular using a speech synthesis device.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the further reading of referenced supplementary messages can be aborted when a predetermined time limit is exceeded for reading the supplementary messages. This ensures that messages are always output promptly after receiving the relevant messages.

Claims (6)

1. Method for encoding announcements which are to be transmitted, particularly traffic announcements, wherein the announcements comprise announcement contents, which announcement contents comprise at least one description of an event and at least one description for a location of the event,
   wherein an announcement has at least one reference to a complemental complementary announcement which is to be transmitted separately, which complementary announcement contains complemental announcement contents,
   characterized
   in that the complemental announcement contents comprise at least one description of a further event which has a causal or local link to the event.
2. Method for decoding announcements encoded in accordance with the method according to Claim 1, characterized
   in that a transmitted announcement and the at least one complementary announcement, to which reference is made in the announcement, are evaluated and
   in that a resulting message is produced from the announcement contents of the announcement and the complemental announcement contents of the at least one complementary announcement.
3. Method according to Claim 2, characterized in that the resulting message preferably refers to that event among the events which has the most significant effect, particularly on the traffic flow in a traffic route network.
4. Method according to Claim 3, characterized in that the resulting message subordinately refers to at least one further event among the at least two events which has a less significant effect.
5. Method according to one of Claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the effect of the event is derived from the nature of the event or from the nature of the event in conjunction with a physical extent of the effect thereof.
6. Receiver for receiving announcements which have been encoded in accordance with a method according to Claim 1, comprising a device for processing the received announcements, characterized by means for evaluating the received announcements such that first of all the announcement and those complementary announcements to which reference is made in the announcement are evaluated and a resulting message is produced from the announcement contents of the announcement and the complemental announcement contents of the at least one complementary announcement.

Images