JP2001229420A - On-vehicle transmitting and receiving device for road traffic information on collection of toll or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To optimize the position relation of the on-vehicle antenna which is most important to the performance and reliability of an on-vehicle transmitting and receiving device to a ground antenna to the arrangement by which sufficient transmission and reception sensitivity is obtained and to enable an on-vehicle unit to easily be mounted as a car maker option, a dealer option, and a postmounted unit by unitizing the on-vehicle antenna part. SOLUTION: Along and below an upper surface of a dashboard, an antenna part which is set previously to an optimum angle is horizontally embedded and fixed to a vehicle and arranged so that sufficient transmission and reception sensitivity to the on-vehicle antenna and ground antenna which is most important to the performance and reliability of an on-vehicle transmission and reception device. Then the on-vehicle antenna is fitted on the basis of a horizontal surface along and blow the upper surface of the dashboard in a direction wherein an ETC ground antenna can select a necessary signal level, and a cable is laid in the dashboard and wired to the ETC on-vehicle instrument.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vehicle mounted on a vehicle,
The present invention relates to a communication terminal device that performs transmission / reception communication such as collection of road traffic tolls with respect to information related to road traffic such as vehicle passing information with a stationary terminal device installed at an entrance such as an expressway.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a system in which a car passes through an entrance of an expressway and pays a fee, a transmission / reception device equipped with information on the entrance, passage, and exit of the vehicle instead of a conventional ticket and a stationary device installed at a tollgate. Exchanges between the transmitter and receiver
It is becoming practical to automate electronically the calculation, billing, payment and recording of IC cards, and to pass non-stop toll booths to save time and labor costs.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-320514 discloses a transmitting / receiving device mounted on a mobile object, which includes an antenna, an IC card, a transmitting / receiving means, and an IC card connected to the antenna and transmitting / receiving data via the transmitting / receiving device. A circuit for reading and writing, and a storage case for the circuit, wherein the case has a first case member and a second case member joined to the first case member to hermetically house the circuit, and the second case I outside the member
A mobile transmitting / receiving apparatus that includes a card holding unit that holds a C card and that performs information communication without contact with an IC card when the IC card is held by the card holding unit.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-204501 discloses a remote control device which can be mounted with an IC card of a prepaid card specification, and a detecting means for detecting whether or not the remote control device has an IC card. A vehicle remote control device provided with a so-called no-card informing means, in which the detecting means detects and reports that the IC card is not mounted, is described.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-235490 proposes an automatic high-speed toll collection system.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted antenna which is most important in terms of performance and reliability of a vehicle-mounted transmitting and receiving apparatus.
It is an object of the present invention to optimize a positional relationship with a ground antenna in an arrangement where the transmission / reception sensitivity is sufficiently selected. Further, the present invention realizes a mountability that can easily cope with any of a car maker option, a dealer option, and retrofit by unitizing the on-vehicle antenna unit. The antenna unit and the transmission / reception circuit unit of the transmission / reception device are compactly integrated to further increase the sharing efficiency with the AV device, thereby enabling cost reduction.

Further, in addition to toll collection, applications will be expanded in the future to cope with expanded functions when used for receiving road traffic information from the ground and transmitting and receiving information on optimal route guidance information to a destination.

[0008]

According to the present invention, first, an antenna section set at an optimum angle in advance is horizontally embedded and fixed in a vehicle along a lower surface on an upper side of an instrument panel, and the performance of a transmitting / receiving apparatus mounted on a vehicle is improved.・ Provide an ETC on-board device optimized for an arrangement that provides sufficient transmission / reception sensitivity between the on-board antenna and the ground antenna, which are the most important for reliability.

According to the present invention, the vehicle-mounted antenna is tilted and fixed so that the angle can be finely adjusted with respect to the mounting surface so that the required signal level is selected in the ETC ground antenna. Along the bottom of the upper surface, with reference to the horizontal plane, the cable runs along the instrument panel and ETC
Wire to the on-board unit. To provide an ETC in-vehicle device that unitizes the in-vehicle antenna unit and realizes easy-to-install compatibility with any of car manufacturer options, dealer options, and retrofits at parts shops.

The present invention further reduces the size and unit of the antenna unit and the transmission / reception circuit unit of the transmission / reception device, and accommodates the antenna unit along the lower part of the upper surface of the instrument panel, and increases the sharing efficiency of the unit arrangement with the AV equipment. ETC that enables cost reduction
Provide an in-vehicle device.

The present invention relates to communication between a terrestrial antenna and an on-vehicle antenna at each interchange of a highway to provide road traffic information and information on optimal route guidance to a destination in addition to toll collection. Provide an ETC vehicle-mounted device capable of performing communication.

According to the present invention, the ETC transmission / reception signal processing unit transmits the image / audio information obtained by the bidirectional communication with the ETC ground antenna using the image / audio function of the AV information device.
CProvide on-board equipment.

According to the present invention, in order to mount the antenna portion below the upper surface of the instrument panel, the mounting window is cut off in advance with a thin groove to facilitate cutting off the mounting window.
Provide an ETC in-vehicle device that facilitates assembling options of a manufacturer by putting a blind lid on a window that has been cut off in advance.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment according to the prior art.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an ETC in-vehicle transmitting / receiving device, which is disassembled in a vertical direction and developed into main units. As shown in the figure, the ETC on-board transmitter / receiver has upper case 1, lower case 2, IC card 3,
It comprises a C card reader / writer 4, a main board 5, an RF module 6, and a display LCD module 20.

On the surface of the main board 5, components having a large height when mounted on the board, such as a buzzer 15, a test terminal 16, a power supply section 17, and a filtering capacitor, are collected, and the rear side of the LCD module, which is the highest on the board surface. Place it near. The CPU 208 and the communication control LSI 206 are arranged on the back surface of the main board (see FIG. 6). Regarding the shield of the main board, the inside of the upper case except for the antenna part has a shielding effect by metal plating except for the antenna part, and the back side is laminated on the lower side with a box-shaped back shield 12 made of metal plate Shield between the IC card reader and writer 4.

The RF module 6 is modularized by disposing an antenna module 10, a front shield 7, a back shield 12, a module connector 8, and the like on the surface of a module substrate 9. Although not shown, the connector of the main board 5 is attached to the rear side of the main board, so that the RF module board 9, the IC card reader / writer control circuit board 11
The exchange of signals with is performed. RF module 6, whereas the main board 5 Introduction other devices are arranged to be all horizontally held, is held so as to keep these at a predetermined angle theta _2. That holds four brackets foot 14a formed on the back surface shield 12 of the main board lower, 14b, 14c, 14d in (14c, 14d are not shown) the angle theta _2.

On the other hand, the assembled ETC on-vehicle device is fixed at its lower end with a mounting bracket 22, and the entire ETC on-vehicle device is angled with respect to the horizontal plane of the vehicle by an angle adjusting bracket 41.
It is adjusted to keep the angle of ₁ . As a result, the transmitting / receiving surface of the antenna 10 is held at an angle of θ ₁ + θ ₂ with respect to the horizontal plane. This angle is the angle that can be most efficiently transmitted and received when the vehicle's ETC on-board antenna passes through the designated gate of the ETC ground antenna at high speed,
This specification is determined by the directivity of the sensitivity of both the terrestrial and on-vehicle antennas.

An operation button 28a on the LCD module 20 is an enter button, and 28b is a menu button. When the menu button 28a is pressed while the IC card 3 is inserted in the reader / writer 4, a menu showing various functions related to the display of ETC and road traffic information is sequentially displayed each time. When the enter button 28b is pressed when the desired menu is displayed, the menu is selected, and the details are displayed. The menu includes usage fee information and volume control function, etc.When you select usage fee detail information, the latest fee and its breakdown are displayed, and if you press the menu button while it is still displayed, it will go back in the past The bill details are displayed. For example, in addition to the charge, the use section, date and time, and the like can be selectively displayed by a menu button. When the enter button is pressed in this state, the menu display is terminated, and the screen returns to the state where the first menu is selected.

When the vehicle passes the exit gate, press the enter button to agree with the payment of the fee displayed for settlement, and select the menu button to confirm other information such as mileage and time. Confirm.

The LCD module 20 outputs character information in segments on the display surface and transmits necessary information by voice. The display surface is self-illuminated, has good visibility, and has a function to compensate for differences in the brightness of the environment so that it can be adapted to day and night.

Next, for example, when the enter button is pressed while the volume adjustment menu is displayed, the volume adjustment menu is selected, and the volume can be adjusted by operating the menu button.

On the back of the ETC on-board transceiver, a connector for connecting to a vehicle-mounted antenna and a connector for connecting to a battery power supply are arranged. By using the audio image display function for navigation or the audio image display function for AV equipment to display ETC toll information and road traffic information, duplication of audio image display functions is avoided. To retrofit the ETC function, a unique display function is required.

The LCD module 20 outputs character information in segments on the display surface and also transmits information by voice. The display surface is self-illuminated, has good visibility, and has a function to compensate for differences in the brightness of the environment so that it can be adapted to day and night.

The upper case 1 has an LCD for the LCD display unit 20.
Module opening 26, test terminal opening 27 for test terminal 16, operation button opening 2 for operation buttons 28a, 28b
9. An opening window 30 for releasing the sound of the buzzer 15 and a transmission / reception window 19 for the vehicle-mounted antenna 10 are provided. The test terminal 16 enables failure diagnosis, operation level adjustment, program version upgrade, and the like of the ETC vehicle-mounted device.

An IC card reader / writer 4 is an IC card 3
To store the inside of the storage room 31, IC card storage
13 has an IC card window 33 provided in the center and an IC card guide 36 thereof.

The lower case 2 has an IC card 3 inserted in the front. It has an IC card entrance 35 for removal, and its upper surface is open. IC card doorway 35 is IC card guide 36
It is assembled so that the IC card can enter and exit smoothly and can be stored in the IC card storage room. The IC card in the stored state is held by an IC card holding mechanism (not shown) in the storage chamber 31 so that the IC card does not move freely due to external vibration or impact.
When you press 21, the spring mechanism pushes the IC card back from the storage room.

The reader / writer 4 of the IC card is housed in the lower case 2 in a state where the control circuit board 11 and the connector 18 for the outside are incorporated.

The upper and lower cases 1 and 2 have a fitting structure with each other, and are combined with a screwing mechanism.

FIG. 1 shows a stand-alone package in which everything from an antenna to an IC card reader / writer is integrated as an embodiment of the prior art.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which several AV device units are grouped into one place and put together.
By incorporating the ETC unit into the system, the audio and video display device was shared, and the system was simplified and the price was reduced. In other words, by using the audio / video display function of the AV equipment, the ETC unit eliminates duplicated devices such as speakers and LCD display elements,
As shown in FIG. 6, the ETC including the communication control LSI 206 and the CPU 208
A part for displaying an output from a part of the transmission / reception signal processing circuit, that is, an audio / video display part / input / output check terminal is separated, and an IC card reader / writer is integrated as an ETC unit. Standard equipment, options or retrofitting can be done easily. In addition, antenna 10
And the RF module 6 as an antenna unit, which are arranged below the upper surface of the instrument panel case, streamlining the distribution of devices with the ETC unit mounted on the AV equipment side.

As shown in FIG. 6, the common parts such as the antenna unit, the ETC unit, the audio / video display / test, the check terminal, and the DC power supply are combined into a group of AV equipment units, as shown in FIG. By placing them on the instrument panel and the others on the group of AV equipment units, duplicate devices are eliminated, enabling standard equipment, manufacturers or dealer options, and retrofitting at parts retailers with the same component configuration, and increasing antenna sensitivity. Prioritized and minimized component costs.

In FIG. 2, the entire casing 83 shown is an AV
Indicates a group of equipment units, the breakdown of which is a CD driver
74, MD driver 75, cassette tape driver 76, I for ETC
C card reader / writer 4, these image display LCD devices 73, CD eject button 79, MD eject button
77, a cassette tape eject button 78, and an IC card eject button 21 are shown. Function switches such as FM and AM frequency selection of tuner, volume and sound quality adjustment of audio equipment, and music selection are performed by 80, 81, and 82. The electronic circuit unit of each unit is housed in the housing for each unit, of which the ETC unit is indicated by 70.

In addition to navigation, DV,
There are options such as D, TV, car phone, etc., and a combination menu of various units is prepared so that each can be combined independently. Here, only one example is shown, but one of the aims of the present invention is to share the audio-visual device. Therefore, the example taken up also takes an example in which the effect of this sharing is great.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a specific embodiment of a mechanism and a structure for mounting the antenna unit below the upper surface of the instrument panel. This is a mounting window frame mechanism that can be used for standard equipment, car maker options, dealer options, or retrofitting at parts retailers. In FIG. 3, the instrument panel case upper surface 50 is preliminarily cut off with a thin groove so that it can be easily cut off, and a window frame is formed. It can also be cut off and used as a window frame. 52a, 52b, 52c, 52d
Is a through hole for screwing the fixing frame 53 to the case. The fixed frame 53 is attached together with the antenna unit 57, and four nuts 54a, 54
The fixing frame 53 with b, 54c, 54d is fixed by bonding or the like, and the antenna unit 57 is screwed 59a, 59b, 59c, 5
Fix with 9d. A signal cable from the antenna unit to the RF module is connected via a connector 7. The RF module is connected to the ETC unit built in the AV equipment unit through the inside of the instrument panel via the connector 60. Although not shown, the upper surface of the fixing frame 53 may be coated with a thin film of an adhesive that serves both as an adhesive and waterproof. Reference numeral 58 in the figure denotes a shield and transmission / reception window provided around the antenna unit in order to prevent external electromagnetic induction disturbance to the antenna module and to enable transmission / reception signals to be selectively exchanged with the ground station. Is shown.
Although not shown, it is effective for noise suppression to provide the fixed frame 53 with a function of shielding the antenna unit.

It is an aim of the present invention to clarify a mounting mechanism and structure that allows the antenna unit to be located below the upper surface of any instrument panel case. As a specific arrangement under the upper surface of the instrument panel case, as shown in Fig. 3, in addition to providing a mounting window on the surface of the instrument panel case, it is integrated with the existing display alarm unit such as a clock on the instrument panel. In some cases, the space may be shared.

In FIG. 3, if necessary, other transmission / reception signal processing units are incorporated in the antenna unit, and the antenna unit is disposed below the upper surface of the instrument panel case as an antenna unit. It could also streamline device allocation. For this purpose, there is a space for accommodating the antenna unit, and furthermore, it is necessary that the transmission / reception signal processing unit be integrated and downsized, and that the solar environment and the thermal environment of the circuit components do not hinder the circuit operation. Conversely, the RF module 6 in FIG. 3 can be integrated into the ETC unit from the actual allowable space.

The in-vehicle ETC antenna is held so as to be adjustable with respect to the mounting surface so that the required signal level can be selected by the ETC ground antenna, and mounted on the horizontal surface below the upper surface of the instrument panel. At the same time, the cables are routed to the ETC on-board equipment by running through the instrument panel.

FIG. 4 shows an ETC ground antenna 65 and a vehicle-mounted antenna.
The positional relationship with 10 is shown based on the horizontal plane. A1 and A2 indicate transmission signals from the in-vehicle antenna 10, and B1 and B2 indicate transmission signals from the ETC ground antenna 65, that is, reception signals as viewed from the in-vehicle antenna. The angle of the antenna surface of the vehicle-mounted antenna 10 is inclined by θ ₁ + θ ₂ with respect to the horizontal plane of the vehicle with respect to the horizontal plane. Here, θ ₁ = 10 deg is the angle between the main board and the mounting surface of the instrument panel case, and θ ₂ = 7 deg is
The angle between the RF module substrate and the main substrate, both shown as a guide. Further, the transmission direction and the transmission power distribution of the on-vehicle antenna are also affected by the shielding material for preventing the guidance disturbance arranged around.

The transmission signal from the ETC ground antenna 65 is set within 45 deg from the horizontal plane. At 45 deg, the in-vehicle antenna informs the terrestrial antenna that it has entered the toll booth at A1 and starts communication. The antenna starts transmitting at B1. Then, the vehicle repeats transmission and reception until A2 and B2 at the communication end point while traveling, and during this time the information stored in the IC card is stored in the ground station, and the onboard equipment side calculates the required fee, passage time, passage gate, etc. Stored in the IC card and displayed on the vehicle display.

FIG. 5 shows an ETC transmission / reception signal processing circuit. The ETC system will be described below mainly on this circuit operation.

In order to realize a system for automating toll collection on toll roads without stopping vehicles and without human intervention, a transmission / reception frequency of about 5.8 GHz is adopted. It records tolls, transit times, and transit gates on toll roads nationwide, and uses an IC card to process toll collection via designated financial institutions. In particular,
When passing through the toll gate at a speed of 100 km / hr, the transit time is 36 ms if the communication distance is 1 m. During this period, the contents of the exchange are: 1) Deposit information on the payer and the financial institution, 2) Distance, fee and time information between the gates, 3) IC card security check and debit procedure from the financial institution It is.

In FIG. 5, transmission information 1 from the car to the ground station
In 01, the frequency is divided by the modulation 104 into 15 MHz by the oscillator 103 via the communication control unit 102, the phases are compared, and further, 5.8 GHz is obtained through the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 105 and the doubling circuit 106. Intermediate low-pass filter 108, high-pass filter 107, amplifier
109 is a carrier S / N improvement measure, 110 is a signal changeover switch 1,
The switch 2 111 is a switching mechanism of the transmitter. The amplifier 124 that propagates the carrier fetches the transmission signal via the S / N improving low-pass filter 125 and the amplifier 126, and modulates the carrier.

The frequency received from the tollgate is 5.8 GHz from the antenna 112 with the band pass filter 113 for improving S / N.
Entered at -40 MHz, except for 5.8 GHz of aerial carrier in mixer 114, 40 MHz in the onboard unit, demodulated by 115 demodulator, input to 102 as received information, and output related items for fee reduction on display panel I do. On the way, the amplifiers 116 and 118 and the bandpass filter 117 are for S / N improvement. In addition, the security check related to the financial institution of the IC card is performed by using the frequency of another system by 119 units. Driving OBE circuit
The DC power source is 12
Two systems of 2 and 3.3V 123 are used.

An emergency ETC-related alarm is issued by the audio amplifier 121.
Is output using a vehicle-mounted AV speaker 120 as standard equipment. The identification code storage device 127 is for protection to ensure financial security.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a transmission / reception signal processing circuit of an on-board ETC unit including an ETC unit and an antenna unit. The antenna unit houses the antenna 10 and the RF module 6, among which a cassette, CD, MD,
The ETC unit is housed as a unit in a group where units related to AV equipment such as tuners and navigation units are collected, and the audio / video display function is used. Therefore ET
The buzzer 222, the display unit 218, the input / output terminal 224, and the power supply terminal 232 in the figure are not required for the C unit,
Use one for equipment.

[0047]

The present invention relates to an on-vehicle antenna and a transmission / reception signal processing circuit which are most important in terms of the performance and reliability of the on-vehicle transmission / reception device, and optimizes the positional relationship with the terrestrial antenna so that the transmission / reception sensitivity is sufficiently selected. At the same time, the in-vehicle antenna unit will be made into a unit, realizing mounting characteristics that can be easily adapted to any of car manufacturer options, dealer options, and retrofits.

The antenna unit of the transmission / reception device and the transmission / reception signal processing circuit unit (RF module) are miniaturized and integrated to further increase the sharing efficiency of the package with the AV equipment and avoid duplication of the devices. Reduce costs with a total system that integrates units and AV equipment units. Specifically, it eliminates the need for speakers and buzzers, LCD image display, input / output terminals used for testing and function checks, and DC power supplies. Effects such as space saving and improved reliability can be obtained.

In the future, applications other than toll collection will be expanded, and functions will be expanded when the ETC information system is expanded and used to widely receive road traffic information from the ground and transmit and receive optimal route guidance information to the destination. Also corresponds to.

In order to prevent electromagnetic interference from the outside of the antenna unit and selectively transmit and receive signals to and from the ground station, a shield block and a transmission and reception window provided around the antenna unit are limited. With this arrangement, noise resistance can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a mounting example of a conventional ETC stand-alone type, disassembled in a vertical direction.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an ETC unit integrally assembled with an AV device, showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention in which an antenna unit is disassembled in a vertical direction.

FIG. 4 is an operation principle diagram showing a positional relationship between a ground antenna and a vehicle-mounted antenna for ETC transmission / reception.

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of an ETC transmission / reception circuit.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of signal processing of the ETC toll collection system.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 RF module, 7 antenna connector, 10 antenna, 26 antenna board, 50 antenna unit,
51: Antenna unit mounting window, 52: Antenna unit mounting screw through hole, 53: Fixed frame, 54: Antenna unit mounting screw hole, 55: Mounting flange, 57:
Antenna unit, 58: transmission / reception radio window, 59: mounting screw, 60: RF module connector

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F029 AA02 5H180 AA01 BB04 BB12 EE10 FF33 9A001 BB06 CC02 DZ13 HH15 HH23 JJ77 LL01

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An in-vehicle AV information device having an image / audio display function, a unit for storing a unit for toll collection (ETC) transmission / reception signal processing and a charge reduction unit using an IC card, and an antenna unit below the upper surface of the instrument panel. An ETC in-vehicle device characterized by being arranged to be stored. 2. The vehicle-mounted ETC antenna according to claim 1,
It is held so that it can be adjusted to the mounting surface so that the required signal level can be selected with the TC ground antenna.It is mounted on the horizontal plane below the upper surface of the instrument panel and the cable is installed inside the instrument panel. An ETC vehicle-mounted device characterized in that wires are routed to the ETC vehicle-mounted device by crawling. 3. An ETC transmission / reception signal processing unit according to claim 1, wherein said ETC transmission / reception signal processing section transmits image / audio information obtained by bidirectional communication with an ETC terrestrial antenna while also using an image / audio function of an AV information device. ETC on-board equipment. 4. The transmission / reception IC according to claim 1, wherein the ETC is transmitted from an ETC ground antenna and road traffic information.
An ETC in-vehicle device characterized in that a card reader / writer, a communication control LSI, and a signal processing circuit section related to a CPU are unitized and housed in an AV device unit group. 5. A window according to claim 1, wherein the cut-out portion is trimmed with a thin groove in order to facilitate the cut-off of the mounting window so that the antenna portion can be mounted below the upper surface of the instrument panel. An ETC on-board device characterized by being assembled with a blind lid. 6. The ETC on-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the RF module is unitized together with the ETC antenna and housed below the upper surface of the instrument panel. 7. An electromagnetic shield according to claim 1, wherein an electromagnetic shield is provided so as to surround the antenna unit so as to prevent an induced noise from the instrument panel periphery, and an electromagnetic shield is not provided in an area facing the ground antenna. ETC on-board equipment characterized by the following.