JP2003320911A - On-vehicle control system, control device, and relay device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle control system, a control device, and a relay device, capable of facilitating drawing communication cables, thus reducing the number of communication cables between devices such as an image pickup device and DC motors assembled in a door mirror, and a gateway device inside a vehicle, connected to these devices. <P>SOLUTION: This system comprises a door mirror ECU 10 which is disposed inside the door mirror 1 and connected with the image pickup device 11, the DC motors 12a, 12b, 12c, a winker 13, and a defroster 14, and a gateway device 30 which relays information from devices and sensors fitted inside a vehicle and connected via various types of LANs. The door mirror ECU 10 and the gateway device 30 are connected by using a pair of harness wirings 20 consisting of a signal line 20a and a power supply line 20b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an on-vehicle control system for controlling an image pickup device, a DC motor, a turn signal, etc. provided inside a vehicle door mirror, and a control device and a relay device used in the on-vehicle control system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A CCD camera, a CM, and the like are used for the purpose of capturing an image of a front side of a passenger seat, which is a blind spot for a driver of an automobile.
An image pickup device such as an OS camera is embedded inside a door mirror, and the image pickup device is controlled from a control panel installed near a driver's seat, for example, and an image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device is acquired to display a liquid crystal display device or the like. An on-vehicle control system for displaying on a device has been proposed.

FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view for explaining the internal structure of a door mirror equipped with an image pickup device. Reference numeral 1 in the drawing is a door mirror, and the door mirror 1 is attached to a door panel 4 by a neck portion 5 thereof. An electric control unit 6 for storing three DC motors 12a, 12b, 12c is installed inside the mirror housing 2, and the DC mirror 12a can fold the door mirror 1 itself to the door panel 4 side. The angle of the mirror glass 3 can be adjusted by the DC motors 12b and 12c.

An image pickup device 11 is installed at an appropriate position on the mirror housing 2 opposite to the mirror glass 3.
It is configured to image the front side of the passenger seat side of the vehicle. Inside the mirror housing 2, there may be a case where a blinker 13 and a heater 14 for preventing the fogging of the mirror glass 3 are further mounted.

A signal line for transmitting a control signal to the image pickup device 11, a communication cable for transmitting an image pickup signal transmitted from the image pickup device 11, and three DC motors 12a, 12
The signal lines for transmitting the control signals to the b, 12c, the blinkers 13, and the heater 14 are bundled by the harness wiring 80, and the insertion hole 6 provided in the electric control unit 6 is provided.
It is drawn into the vehicle through c.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the internal structure of a conventional vehicle-mounted control system. As described above, the door mirror 1 includes the image pickup device 11, a DC motor 12a for folding the door mirror 1 itself toward the vehicle body, and two DC motors 12b, 12c for adjusting the angle of the mirror glass 3.
Is provided. Further, inside the door mirror 1, there are a turn signal indicator 13 and a heater 14 for removing fogging on the mirror glass.
And other equipment.

The image pickup device 11 is a monitor device 51 installed near the driver's seat inside the vehicle via a communication cable 80a.
The image pickup device 11 is configured to transmit the image pickup signal obtained by image pickup to the monitor device 51 via the communication cable 80a. In addition, the imaging device 1
The power supply line 80b for supplying power to 1 is connected to a connection box 70 installed at an appropriate position inside the vehicle, and power is supplied through the connection box 70.

The DC motors 12a, 12b, 12
cables 80c to 8 having a power supply line, a ground line, and the like connected to the c, blinker 13, and heater 14.
0g is the above-mentioned communication cable 80a and power supply line 80
It was bundled together with b as harness wiring 80, drawn into the inside of the vehicle from the connection portion between the door mirror 1 and the door panel 4, and connected to the connection box 70.

The connection box 70 includes a body system LAN 6
0 to a control panel 61 installed near the dashboard inside the vehicle. The driver or the passenger can use the image pickup device 11, the DC motors 12a, 12b, 12
When the control panel 61 is operated to operate the driving device (controlled device) such as the c, the winker 13, and the heater 14, a signal for operating the driving device is sent to the connection box 70 via the body system LAN 60. Sent.

The connection box 70 is a control ECU that generates a control signal for controlling a driving device such as the image pickup device 11.
(Electronic Control Unit) is provided, and when a signal from the control panel 61 is received, a control signal is generated to operate the drive device.

[0011]

As described above, the DC
A cable 80c to 80g having a power supply line and a ground line connected to devices such as the motors 12a, 12b and 12c, the winkers 13 and the heater 14 and a communication cable 80a for transmitting an image pickup signal from the image pickup device 11 are bundled together. In that case, the total number of cables is 10 or more, and the outer diameter of the harness wiring 80 becomes very large.

When the outer diameter of the harness wiring 80 becomes large, there is a problem that the work becomes extremely difficult when the harness wiring 80 is pulled in from the connecting portion between the neck portion 5 of the door mirror 1 and the door panel 4. Was.

Further, even if the harness wiring 80 can be drawn into the vehicle and the connection with the connection box 70 is completed, if the outer diameter of the harness wiring 80 is large, for example, the DC motor 12a can be installed. When the door mirror 1 is driven to be folded toward the vehicle body, an external force is easily applied to the harness wiring 80, which may damage the harness wiring 80.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is provided with an image pickup device for picking up an image outside the vehicle, a control device, and a controlled device controlled by the control device inside a door mirror, and an in-vehicle communication line is provided. A control signal for controlling the controlled device is generated based on a signal from an in-vehicle device installed in the vehicle via the control device and the communication signal in the vehicle to the inside of the vehicle. With the transmission configuration, the number of cables for the in-vehicle communication line arranged between the inside of the vehicle and the door mirror can be reduced, and the in-vehicle control system that facilitates the cable pull-in operation, and the in-vehicle control system An object is to provide a control device and a relay device that are used.

[0015]

An in-vehicle control system according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an in-vehicle device provided in a vehicle, and a control device that generates a control signal based on a signal transmitted from the in-vehicle device via an in-vehicle communication line. An in-vehicle control system including one or a plurality of controlled devices that are controlled based on a control signal generated by the control device; an imaging device that images the outside of the vehicle to generate an imaging signal; the control device; The controlled device and the inside of the door mirror attached to the vehicle,
The image pickup device is connected to the control device, and is configured to transmit an image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device to the inside of the vehicle through the control device and the in-vehicle communication line.

The on-vehicle control system according to the second invention is the first invention.
In the in-vehicle control system according to the invention, the control device includes a signal processing circuit that processes an image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device, and transmits the image pickup signal processed by the signal processing circuit through the in-vehicle communication line. The feature is that it is done.

The on-vehicle control system according to the third aspect of the present invention is the second aspect.
In the vehicle-mounted control system according to the present invention, the signal processing circuit includes means for compressing an image pickup signal generated by the image pickup apparatus by a predetermined compression method.

The on-vehicle control system according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is the third aspect.
In the vehicle-mounted control system according to the present invention, the compression method is a DV compression method (DV: Digital Video).

The on-vehicle control system according to the fifth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect.
In the vehicle-mounted control system according to any one of the invention to the fourth invention, one of the controlled devices is an adjusting device that adjusts a mounting angle of the door mirror according to a control signal output from the control device. And

The on-vehicle control system according to the sixth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect.
In the in-vehicle control system according to any one of the inventions to the fifth inventions, one of the controlled devices is a signal light device that turns on and off according to a control signal output from the control device.

The on-vehicle control system according to the seventh aspect of the present invention is the first aspect.
The in-vehicle control system according to any one of the inventions to the sixth inventions, further comprising a relay device connected between the in-vehicle device and the control device, wherein the relay device includes a signal transmitted from the in-vehicle device and the control. A relay means for relaying an image pickup signal transmitted from the device, and a power supply means for supplying power to the control device are provided.

The on-vehicle control system according to the eighth aspect of the present invention is the seventh aspect.
The in-vehicle control system according to the invention is characterized by comprising one or a plurality of information devices connected to the relay device.

The on-vehicle control system according to the ninth aspect of the invention is the eighth aspect.
In the vehicle-mounted control system according to the present invention, one of the information devices is a display device that displays an image based on an image pickup signal transmitted from the control device.

An on-vehicle control system according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is the vehicle-mounted control system according to any of the first to ninth aspects, wherein the in-vehicle communication line is a communication line conforming to IEEE1394.

A control device according to the eleventh invention is an on-vehicle device,
And means for generating a control signal based on a signal transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device via an in-vehicle communication line, the device being controlled being connected to one or a plurality of controlled devices, and the device being controlled based on the control signal generated by the device. In the control device configured to control the image pickup device, which is capable of capturing an image of the outside of the vehicle to generate an image pickup signal, the image pickup signal input from the connected image pickup device is transmitted via the in-vehicle communication line. It is characterized in that it is installed inside a door mirror attached to the vehicle.

A control device according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is the control device according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, further comprising a signal processing circuit for processing the image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device, and the image pickup signal processed by the signal processing circuit. It is characterized in that the transmission is made via the in-vehicle communication line.

A control device according to a thirteenth invention is the control device according to the twelfth invention, wherein the signal processing circuit comprises means for compressing an image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device by a predetermined compression method. Characterize.

A control device according to a fourteenth invention is the control device according to the thirteenth invention, characterized in that the compression method is a DV compression method (DV: Digital Video).

A relay device according to a fifteenth aspect of the invention is connected between an on-vehicle device and a control device, and relay means for relaying a signal transmitted from the on-vehicle device or the control device, and power supply to the control device. Power supply means for

In the first invention and the eleventh invention, an image pickup device for picking up an image of the outside of the vehicle, a control device connected to an in-vehicle device via an in-vehicle communication line, and a controlled device controlled by the control device are a door mirror. The control signal for controlling the controlled device is generated on the basis of the signal received through the in-vehicle communication line, and the image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device is generated through the control device and the in-vehicle communication line. I try to send it in the car. Therefore, since the cables respectively connected to the image pickup device and the controlled device installed inside the door mirror can be shared by the control device, the number of cables extending from the door mirror to the inside of the vehicle is reduced, The harness wiring for bundling the cables can be made thin, and the wiring work when pulling the harness wiring into the vehicle becomes easy.

In the second and twelfth inventions, since the signal processing circuit for processing the image pickup signal generated by the image pickup apparatus is provided, when the output of the image pickup signal is in an analog format, for example, , A / D converter can be converted into a digital signal, and the image pickup signal converted into a digital signal can be compressed by an encoder. for that reason,
The data amount of the image pickup signal can be reduced, the metallic cable can be used without using the optical cable for transmitting the image pickup signal, and the vehicle-mounted control system can be provided at a lower cost.

In the third and thirteenth inventions, the image pickup signal generated from the image pickup signal is compressed by a predetermined method. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the data amount of the image pickup signal, it is possible to use a metallic cable without using an optical cable for transmitting the image pickup signal, and it is possible to provide an in-vehicle control system at a lower cost. Become.

In the fourth and fourteenth inventions, the image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device is converted into a DV-compressed signal. Therefore, the amount of data of the image pickup signal to be transmitted is reduced to about 30 Mbps by performing the DV compression, and it becomes possible to use a metallic cable compatible with 100 Mbps, for example, and it is possible to provide an in-vehicle image pickup system at a lower cost. Become.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the adjusting device for adjusting the mounting angle of the door mirror is connected to the control device.
Therefore, the attachment angle of the door mirror can be adjusted without damaging the cable arranged inside the vehicle from the control device.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a signal lamp device which is turned on and off in response to a control signal from the control device. Therefore, even when a signal light device such as a winker is provided inside the door mirror, the number of cables arranged inside the vehicle from the control device is not increased.

In the seventh and fifteenth aspects of the invention, which is connected between the on-vehicle device and the control device, relays signals transmitted from the on-vehicle device and the control device and supplies power to the control device. I am trying to do it. Therefore, it becomes possible to supply power to the control device from the relay device.

In the eighth aspect of the invention, since one or a plurality of information devices can be connected to the relay device, for example, by connecting a display device such as a liquid crystal display device, the information is transmitted from the image pickup device. An image can be displayed based on the image pickup signal.

According to the ninth aspect, since the display device can be connected as one of the information devices, it is possible to display an image based on the image pickup signal transmitted from the image pickup device.

According to the tenth aspect of the invention, since communication conforming to IEEE1394 is adopted as the in-vehicle communication line, when data obtained by DV compression is transmitted in a stream format,
It becomes possible to transmit by isochronous communication, and the signal to be transmitted to the control device can be transmitted by asynchronous communication. That is, the data obtained by the image pickup device can be transmitted only by the communication cable and the power supply cable corresponding to the communication standard of IEEE1394, and the controlled device such as the DC motor connected to the image pickup device and the control device can be controlled. It will be possible.

[0040]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments thereof. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an in-vehicle control system of the present invention. C in the figure
Is a vehicle such as an automobile, and includes an image pickup device 11 inside the door mirror 1 of the vehicle C. The image pickup device 11 is, for example, a CCD camera, and is provided for visually recognizing the front side of the passenger seat, which is likely to be a blind spot from the driver's seat.

The video data obtained by the image pickup device 11 is DV compressed (Digita) inside the door mirror ECU 10.
(Video compression) After being converted into stream data, it is input to the gateway device 30 installed at an appropriate position inside the vehicle C via the harness wiring 20 that bundles two wirings of the power supply line and the signal line. It

Inside the door mirror 1, in addition to the image pickup device 11, a DC motor for driving the door mirror 1 itself, two DC motors for driving the mirror glass of the door mirror, a winker, a heater and the like are incorporated. The power supply line or the signal line extending from these devices is connected to the door mirror ECU 10 described above.

The gateway device 30 includes a control system LAN.
A control device and various sensors such as an engine ECU 41 and a steering angle sensor 42 are connected via 40, and an in-vehicle device such as a monitor device 51 and a navigation device 52 are connected via an information system LAN 50. Further, devices such as the control panel 61 are connected via the body system LAN 60.

The gateway device 30 relays data and control signals transmitted and received between each LAN and relays data and control signals transmitted and received between the door mirror ECU 10 and each LAN. Further, when relaying the data and the control signal, the gateway device 30 converts the format as necessary and relays it.

For example, the stream data obtained by DV-compressing the video data obtained by the image pickup device 11 is input to the gateway device 30 via the harness wiring 20, and the stream data relayed by the gateway device 30 is the information system. It is transmitted to the monitor device 51 via the LAN 50 and displayed. Further, by operating the control panel 61, it is possible to control devices such as the image pickup device 11 installed inside the door mirror 1, and the signal output from the control panel 61 is relayed by the gateway device 30 to generate a harness. It is input to the door mirror ECU 10 via the wiring 20. Further, the data about the steering angle acquired by the steering angle sensor 42 is relayed by the gateway device 30, transmitted to the monitor device 51, and the value thereof is displayed.

In the present invention, by adopting IEEE1394 as a communication standard between the door mirror ECU 10 and the gateway device 30, one set of signals for controlling the stream data of the image, the DC motor, the blinker, etc. by the image pickup device 11 can be easily set. It becomes possible to transmit and receive with the communication cable of.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the door mirror 1.
FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view showing the structure of the door mirror 1. The door mirror 1 is attached by fixing one end side of the electric control unit 6 to the vicinity of the window frame portion of the passenger panel side door panel 4 of the vehicle C. The electric control unit 6 includes a DC motor 12a for driving the door mirror 1 and two DC motors 12b, 12c for adjusting the left and right and up and down viewing angles of the mirror glass 3 inside, and a motor storage section 6a. 6a, and an arm portion 6b for supporting the wire 6a. An insertion hole 6c for inserting the harness wiring 20 is formed in the arm portion 6b. Further, an insertion hole 4a is also formed at an appropriate position of the door panel 4, and when the electric control unit 6 is fixed to a predetermined position of the door panel 4, the insertion hole 6c on the electric control unit 6 side and the insertion hole 4a on the door panel 4 side. And the harness wiring 20 can be drawn into the inside of the vehicle C. At both ends of the harness wiring 20, the door mirror side connector 2
1 and a vehicle-side connector 22 are provided respectively.

The electric control unit 6 is disposed inside the mirror housing 2 and the neck portion 5 made of resin, and the mirror housing 2 is rotatably pivoted by the electric control unit 6. Therefore, the door mirror 1
When using the door panel 4 as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
It is open from the side, and when the door mirror 1 is not used,
It can be folded to the door panel 4 side by driving the DC motor 12a.

The mirror housing 2 is formed with an opening 9 which is open toward the rear of the vehicle C, and the mirror glass 3 is arranged in the opening 9. A convex mirror holder 8 is provided in a substantially central position on the back side of the mirror glass 3, and the mirror holder 8 is a mirror that rotates in the left-right direction and the vertical direction in response to the driving of the motors 12b and 12c. It is attached to the drive unit 7. The mirror surface angle of the mirror glass 3 is adjusted by changing the angle of the mirror drive unit 7.

The above-mentioned image pickup device 11 is installed inside the mirror housing 2 on the side opposite to the mirror glass 3, and the image pickup device 11 picks up an image of the front area of the vehicle C on the passenger seat side. A winker 13 and a heater 14 are assembled inside the mirror housing 2, and a communication line connected to the imaging device 11, the winker 13, and the heater 14 is connected to the door mirror ECU 10. The door mirror ECU 10 is provided with a connector (not shown) for connecting the door mirror side connector 21, and the harness wiring 20 is connected thereto.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the vehicle-mounted control system according to the present invention. The door mirror 1 includes a door mirror ECU 10 inside. The door mirror ECU 10 includes an image pickup device 11, DC motors 12a, 12b, 12c, turn signals 13, and a heater 1 which are connected to the door mirror ECU 10.
The drive of the drive device such as 4 is controlled.

A gateway device 30 is installed at an appropriate position on the vehicle C, and the gateway device 30 and the door mirror ECU 10 are connected by a harness wiring 20. The harness wiring 20 is a cable that bundles a signal line 20a for transmitting and receiving signals and a power supply line 20b for supplying electric power. By adopting IEEE1394 for communication between the door mirror ECU 10 and the gateway device 30, for example, 100 Mbps is used as the signal line 20a.
It is possible to use the metal cable of. Also,
Since IEEE1394 is compatible with isochronous communication and asynchronous communication, it is possible to transmit video data of the image pickup device 11 to the gateway device 30 by isochronous communication and receive a control signal for driving the driving device by asynchronous communication. It is possible.

The gateway device 30 is a physical layer for communication.
A communication LSI for processing the data link layer, a switch processing LSI for checking the communication headers of the network layer / transport layer and performing data transfer processing, and a microcomputer (not shown) are provided. Further, the gateway device 30 is connected with a control device and various sensors such as an engine ECU 41 and a steering angle sensor 42 via a control system LAN 40, and via an information system LAN 50, a monitor device 51, a navigation device 52, An in-vehicle device such as the audio device 53 is connected. Further, devices such as the control panel 61 are connected via the body system LAN 60. The communication path is selected by the switch processing LSI described above.
Alternatively, it is performed by a microcomputer.

Further, the gateway device 30 has a power supply line 20b for supplying power to the door mirror ECU 10.
It has a power supply connected to, and also has some functions as a conventional connection box (junction box).

Control system LAN 40 and body system LAN 60
Is a relatively low speed communication network such as a CAN (Controller Area Network), and in addition to the above-mentioned control device / sensor, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a vehicle speed and a DWS (Deflation Warning Syste) for detecting tire pressure.
It is also possible to connect various sensors such as m).

A relatively high speed communication standard such as IEEE1394 is adopted for the information system LAN 50, and it is used when transmitting and receiving data having a relatively large amount of information such as video data and music data. The information system LAN 50 includes a monitor device 5
In addition to 1, the navigation device 52, the audio device 53, it is possible to connect various information devices such as a CD changer and a DVD device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the door mirror ECU 10. The door mirror ECU 10 is M
A microcomputer 101 having a PU is provided, and various kinds of hardware such as a memory 103, a communication interface 104, a drive circuit 105, and a CODEC 106 are connected via a bus 102. Memory 103
Stores various control programs, and functions as the door mirror ECU 10 when the microcomputer 101 reads the control programs.

In addition to the above-mentioned control program, the memory 103 temporarily stores data generated during arithmetic processing of the microcomputer 101, and also stores data transmitted / received via the communication interface 104. You can For example, the video stream data transmitted from the communication interface 104 is temporarily stored.

The communication interface 104 is connected to the gateway device 30 via the signal line 20a, and is connected to the control system LAN 40 to control devices and various sensors, and to the information system LAN 50 to various information devices and body systems. It is an interface for communicating with devices such as the control panel 61 connected to the LAN 60.

The drive circuit 105 includes DC motors 12a, 1
It is a circuit for driving a driving device such as 2b, 12c, winkers 13 and heaters 14, and applies a required voltage based on a driving signal input from the microcomputer 101 to drive the driving device. DC motor 12
As the power supply for driving the a, 12b, 12c, the winkers 13, and the heater 14, the power supply generated by the power supply circuit 110 is used.

The CODEC 106 includes an A / D converter 10
7 is connected and the NT input from the imaging device 11
An analog video signal such as an SC composite is converted into a digital video signal by the A / D converter 107, and then the digital video signal is input. The CODEC 106 DV-compresses the input digital video signal and outputs it to the communication interface 104. Communication interface 1
04 is the gateway device 30 according to the IEC-61883 standard.
Communication is established, the input digital video signal is converted into stream data, and the stream data is transmitted to the gateway device 30 by isochronous communication. When transmitting and receiving DV compressed stream data, the amount of data is about 30 Mbps
Since it can be reduced to 100 Mbps, it is possible to use a 100 Mbps metal cable.

When the image output of the image pickup device 11 is in a digital format such as 16-bit YUV or ITU-R BT.656, the A / D converter 107 is unnecessary and the image signal from the image pickup device 11 is not necessary. Directly into the CODEC 106. Further, a communication interface 104 having a built-in CODEC 106 can be used. In this case, the CODE
It is not necessary to separately provide C106, and stream data can be transmitted / received without increasing the number of parts.
In addition, the uncompressed video stream is sent to the IIDC Digital Cam.
It is also possible to send and receive according to the era Specification Ver.1.30, and in this case, the CODEC 106 itself becomes unnecessary.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of video data input from the image pickup device 11. The microcomputer 101 determines whether or not an image pickup signal is input from the image pickup device 11 (step S1). The image pickup signal input from the image pickup device 11 includes a luminance signal, a color signal,
There are audio signals, etc. When no image signal is input (S1:
NO), and waits until the image pickup signal is input.

When an image pickup signal is input (S1: YE
S), the analog format video signal input by the A / D converter 107 is converted into a digital format signal (step S2). For example, in order to obtain 500 horizontal resolutions by the luminance signal, it is necessary to secure a luminance signal band of about 6 MHz. Therefore, the sampling period of the luminance signal in A / D conversion is 13.5 MH, which is slightly more than twice the luminance signal band.
It is set to z.

The data amount of the A / D converted image pickup signal is 1
Since it is 62 Mbps, which is a huge amount as compared with an analog signal, the effective area extraction processing is performed by the CODEC 106.
The amount of data is DV-compressed using DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) and VLC (Variable Length Coding) (step S).
3). The amount of data after DV compression becomes about 30 Mbps,
It can be reduced to about 1/5 of that before DV compression.

Then, the communication interface 104 transmits it as stream data (step S4). When transmitting as stream data, communication is established between the two points of the communication interface 104 and the gateway device 30, and the DV compressed stream data is isochronous.
It is transmitted to the gateway device 30 as a stream.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the control procedure of the drive unit. First, the gateway device 30 determines whether or not the control signal transmitted from the control panel 61 is received (step S11). When the control signal is not received (S11: NO), it waits until the control signal is received.

When the gateway device 30 receives the control signal (S11: YES), the header information of the control signal is acquired, the header information is replaced by the microcomputer included in the gateway device 30, and the door mirror ECU 10 is controlled by the asynchronous communication. A signal is transmitted (step S12).

When the door mirror ECU 10 receives the control signal (step S13), the driving device such as the image pickup device 11 and the DC motor 12a is selected based on the received control signal (step S14) and selected. A drive signal is output to the drive device to drive (step S15).

[0070]

As described above in detail, in the case of the first and eleventh inventions, an image pickup device for picking up an image of the outside of the vehicle, a control device connected to an onboard device via an in-vehicle communication line, and the control device. The controllable device controlled by the inside of the door mirror is provided, and the control signal for controlling the controlled device is generated based on the signal received through the in-vehicle communication line, and the imaging signal generated by the imaging device is generated. The information is transmitted to the inside of the vehicle through the control device and the communication line in the vehicle.
Therefore, since the cables respectively connected to the image pickup device and the controlled device installed inside the door mirror can be shared by the control device, the number of cables extending from the door mirror to the inside of the vehicle is reduced, The harness wiring for bundling the cables can be made thin, and the wiring work when pulling the harness wiring into the vehicle becomes easy.

According to the second and twelfth aspects of the invention, since the signal processing circuit for processing the image pickup signal generated by the image pickup apparatus is provided, when the output of the image pickup signal is in the analog format, for example, The A / D converter can convert the digital signal, and the image signal converted to the digital signal can be compressed by the encoder. Therefore, the data amount of the image pickup signal can be reduced, and the metallic cable can be used without using the optical cable for the transmission of the image pickup signal, and the vehicle-mounted control system can be provided at a lower cost. Become.

According to the third and thirteenth inventions, the image pickup signal generated from the image pickup signal is compressed by a predetermined method. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the data amount of the image pickup signal, it is possible to use a metallic cable without using an optical cable for transmitting the image pickup signal, and it is possible to provide an in-vehicle control system at a lower cost. Become.

In the case of the fourth and fourteenth inventions, the image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device is converted into a DV-compressed signal. Therefore, the data amount of the image pickup signal transmitted by DV compression is about 30 Mbps.
It is possible to use a metallic cable compatible with, for example, 100 Mbps, and it is possible to provide a vehicle-mounted imaging system at a lower cost.

In the case of the fifth aspect of the invention, the adjusting device for adjusting the mounting angle of the door mirror is connected to the control device. Therefore, the attachment angle of the door mirror can be adjusted without damaging the cable arranged inside the vehicle from the control device.

In the case of the sixth aspect of the present invention, the signal lamp device for turning on and off according to the control signal from the control device is provided. Therefore, even when a signal light device such as a winker is provided inside the door mirror, the number of cables arranged inside the vehicle from the control device is not increased.

In the case of the seventh and fifteenth inventions, it is connected between the on-vehicle device and the control device, relays signals transmitted from the on-vehicle device and the control device, and supplies power to the control device. I am trying. Therefore,
It becomes possible to supply power to the control device from the relay device.

In the case of the eighth invention, since one or more information devices can be connected to the relay device, for example,
By connecting a display device such as a liquid crystal display device, it becomes possible to display an image based on an image pickup signal transmitted from the image pickup device.

In the case of the ninth aspect, since the display device can be connected as one of the information devices, it is possible to display the video based on the image pickup signal transmitted from the image pickup device.

In the case of the tenth invention, since the communication conforming to IEEE1394 is adopted as the in-vehicle communication line, DV
When transmitting data obtained by compression in stream format, it becomes possible to transmit by isochronous communication,
The signal transmitted to the control device can be transmitted by asynchronous communication. That is, the data obtained by the imaging device can be transmitted only by the communication cable and the power cable that correspond to the communication standard of IEEE1394.
The present invention has excellent effects such as being able to control a controlled device such as a DC motor connected to the imaging device and the control device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an in-vehicle control system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a door mirror.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view showing the structure of a door mirror.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an in-vehicle control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a door mirror ECU.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of video data input from an imaging device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the driving device.

FIG. 8 is a horizontal cross-sectional view illustrating an internal configuration of a door mirror including an image pickup device.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a conventional vehicle-mounted control system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 door mirror 10 Door mirror ECU 11 Imaging device 12a, 12b, 12c DC motor 13 blinkers 14 heater 30 gateway device 40 control system LAN 50 Information LAN 60 body LAN 101 Microcomputer

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. An in-vehicle device provided in a vehicle, a control device that generates a control signal based on a signal transmitted from the in-vehicle device through an in-vehicle communication line, and a control signal that is controlled based on the control signal generated by the control device. In a vehicle-mounted control system including one or a plurality of controlled devices, an imaging device that images the outside of a vehicle to generate an imaging signal, the control device, and the controlled device inside a door mirror installed in the vehicle. The image pickup device is connected to the control device, and the image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device is transmitted to the inside of the vehicle through the control device and the in-vehicle communication line. In-vehicle control system. 2. The control device includes a signal processing circuit for processing an image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device, and the image pickup signal processed by the signal processing circuit is to be transmitted through the in-vehicle communication line. The vehicle-mounted control system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle-mounted control system is provided. 3. The vehicle-mounted control system according to claim 2, wherein the signal processing circuit includes means for compressing an image pickup signal generated by the image pickup apparatus by a predetermined compression method. 4. The compression method is a DV compression method (DV:
The in-vehicle control system according to claim 3, which is a digital video). 5. The control device according to claim 1, wherein one of the controlled devices is an adjusting device that adjusts a mounting angle of the door mirror according to a control signal output from the control device. The in-vehicle control system according to any one of 1. 6. The signal lamp device according to claim 1, wherein one of the controlled devices is a signal lamp device that is turned on and off according to a control signal output from the control device.
The in-vehicle control system according to any one of 1. 7. A relay device connected between the in-vehicle device and the control device, wherein the relay device relays a signal transmitted from the in-vehicle device and an image pickup signal transmitted from the control device. 7. The vehicle-mounted control system according to claim 1, further comprising: a relay unit that performs a power supply, and a power supply unit that supplies power to the control device. 8. The in-vehicle control system according to claim 7, further comprising one or more information devices connected to the relay device. 9. The in-vehicle control system according to claim 8, wherein one of the information devices is a display device that displays an image based on an image pickup signal transmitted from the control device. 10. The in-vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle communication line is a communication line conforming to IEEE1394. 11. An in-vehicle device, and means for generating a control signal based on a signal transmitted from the in-vehicle device via an in-vehicle communication line, connected to one or more controlled devices, and generated by the means. In a control device configured to control the controlled device based on a control signal, an imaging device that images the outside of the vehicle and generates an imaging signal can be connected, and the imaging input from the connected imaging device A control device comprising means for transmitting a signal into the vehicle through the in-vehicle communication line, and being installed inside a door mirror attached to the vehicle. 12. A signal processing circuit for processing an image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device, wherein the image pickup signal processed by the signal processing circuit is transmitted through the in-vehicle communication line. The control device according to claim 11. 13. The control device according to claim 12, wherein the signal processing circuit includes means for compressing an image pickup signal generated by the image pickup device by a predetermined compression method. 14. The DV compression method (D
V: Digital Video). 1.
3. The control device according to item 3. 15. A relay unit, which is connected between the on-vehicle device and the control device and relays a signal transmitted from the on-vehicle device or the control device, and a power supply unit for supplying power to the control device. A relay device characterized by the above.