JP2004251710A - Traffic information providing system and traffic information providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a traffic information providing system enabling each vehicle to quickly acquire important and emergent traffic information. <P>SOLUTION: A managing station 15 grasps a vehicle 1 positioned in a cell 19 on a base station 14 side of a data communication module 10 based on data transmitted from an on-vehicle device 2, and transmits necessary traffic information to other vehicles 1 estimated to be moving toward the position of the vehicle 1 transmitting the information, when determining that the state occurs wherein traveling of the vehicle is hindered, such as occurrence of an accident, based on the data transmitted from the vehicle 1. Then, the on-vehicle device 2 displays the received traffic information on a display part 5 to thereby report it to occupants in the vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a traffic information providing system and a traffic information providing method for providing traffic information from a management station to an in-vehicle device by performing communication between an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle and a management station.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Various technologies have been proposed as traffic information providing systems. For example, in Patent Literature 1, a passenger inputs traffic information data near the location of an automobile to an in-vehicle device, or automatically transmits information about a vehicle to an information center. There is disclosed a technology in which an information center transmits traffic information data to an in-vehicle device when there is a request for transmitting information data.
[0003]
In Patent Document 2, an artificial satellite transmits wide-area traffic information to a road traffic information center in the form of an image. The information center also collects and processes optical beacons on the road and road traffic information provided by government agencies and the like. In addition, there is disclosed a technique of broadcasting the processed information to each vehicle via an artificial satellite.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-328580
[0005]
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-2000-231696
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, traffic information data is not provided to the vehicle unless an information transmission request is issued from the vehicle-mounted device. Therefore, there is a problem that, even when an information center grasps important and urgent traffic information, such as when a traffic accident occurs on a road, the information is not immediately transmitted to the vehicle.
[0007]
In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2, since the road traffic information center only processes the collected information and broadcasts the information via artificial satellites, the information is transmitted to each vehicle located in the transmission area. The information is wide area traffic information within the area, whether or not it is necessary for each vehicle. Therefore, a lot of redundant information is included. Since the transmitting side does not examine the information content at all, the vehicle side cannot quickly obtain traffic information that is important for its own driving and has high urgency.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a traffic information providing system and a traffic information providing method in which each vehicle can quickly obtain important and highly urgent traffic information. It is in.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the traffic information providing system of the first aspect, the management station grasps a vehicle located within a predetermined communication range on the base station side of the wireless communication means based on the data transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device. . When it is determined that a state that hinders the traveling of the vehicle has occurred based on the vehicle information transmitted from those vehicles, the other vehicle presumed to head toward the position of the vehicle that transmitted the information includes the vehicle. Send traffic information related to the information. Then, the in-vehicle device notifies the occupant of the vehicle of the received traffic information by the notification unit.
[0010]
That is, the management station can grasp the vehicles located within the predetermined communication range in detail based on the vehicle ID data, the current position, and the current time transmitted by each vehicle-mounted device. Therefore, for example, when the vehicle information transmitted from a certain in-vehicle device has a high probability of occurrence of a traffic accident, other vehicles that are predicted to head toward the position of the vehicle based on the grasped trends of each vehicle , Information indicating the occurrence of a traffic accident can be transmitted.
[0011]
As described above, according to the system of the present invention, since each vehicle side can quickly obtain important and highly urgent traffic information on its own driving, the data transmitted from each vehicle can be obtained. Can be used more effectively to contribute to the safe driving of each vehicle.
[0012]
According to the traffic information providing system according to the second aspect, the management station manages a cell managed by one base station on the communication network side of the mobile phone as being within the predetermined communication range. Therefore, information can be managed within a relatively limited area, and information processing efficiency can be improved to provide traffic information more quickly. Further, since the ID data of the vehicle is used as the telephone number of the data communication means, the ID data and the communication destination data are shared, so that the amount of information to be communicated can be reduced.
[0013]
According to the traffic information providing system according to the third aspect, the control means of the on-vehicle device sets the transmission timing to a fixed period, so that the management station can grasp the position of each vehicle in more detail.
[0014]
According to the traffic information providing system of the fourth aspect, the control means of the in-vehicle device sets the transmission timing when the vehicle information indicates the operation of the ABS device. That is, since the ABS device operates when the wheels are locked by sudden braking, it is estimated that a relatively dangerous driving situation has occurred. Therefore, by performing transmission at that timing, the management station can determine the traffic condition at the point where the vehicle is located based on the transmitted data.
[0015]
According to the traffic information providing system of the fifth aspect, the control means of the in-vehicle device sets the transmission timing when the vehicle information indicates the operation of the brake assist device. That is, since the brake assist device operates when the sudden braking is applied, it is presumed that a relatively dangerous driving situation has occurred as in the case where the ABS device has operated. Therefore, by transmitting at that timing, the management station can determine the traffic situation at the point where the vehicle is located, as in the fourth aspect.
[0016]
According to the traffic information providing system of the sixth aspect, the control means of the in-vehicle device sets the transmission timing when the vehicle information indicates the operation of the airbag device. That is, since the airbag device operates when a strong impact acts on the vehicle, it is presumed that an accident has almost certainly occurred. Therefore, by transmitting at that timing, the management station can determine the occurrence of an accident at the point where the vehicle is located, and provide the information on the occurrence of the accident to other vehicles that are heading to that point. be able to.
[0017]
According to the traffic information providing system of the seventh aspect, the control means of the in-vehicle device sets the transmission timing when the vehicle information indicates the traffic congestion state. Accordingly, the management station can determine the occurrence of traffic congestion on the road at the point where the vehicle is located, and can provide the traffic congestion information to other vehicles that are heading to the point.
[0018]
According to the traffic information providing system of the eighth aspect, at least the position detecting means, the notifying means, and the control means of the on-vehicle device are configured as a part of the functions of the vehicle navigation device. The in-vehicle device can be configured efficiently by common use.
[0019]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of the traffic information providing system. The vehicle 1 has an in-vehicle device 2 mounted thereon. The in-vehicle device 2 is configured using an in-vehicle terminal of a G-BOOK system, which is a type of information network service. That is, the in-vehicle device 2 includes a position detection unit (position detection unit) 3, which also functions as a car navigation device, a control unit (control unit, vehicle information collection unit) 4, and a display unit (notification unit) 5.
[0020]
The position detection unit 3 receives the GPS signal and detects the current position of the vehicle 1 based on a sensor signal obtained from an azimuth sensor, a vehicle speed sensor 6, and the like disposed on the vehicle 1. The control unit 4 is configured by a microcomputer, and controls the functions of the in-vehicle device 2 overall. Further, the control unit 4 has a built-in RTC (Real Time Clock) 7 as a clock means, and can acquire current time data. The display unit 5 is configured by a liquid crystal display or the like. In addition, although not shown, a CD / DVD-ROM device (disk and driver) or a hard disk device for reading map data is also provided.
[0021]
The in-vehicle device 2 includes an in-vehicle LAN interface (I / F) 9 for obtaining vehicle information by communicating with the ECU 8 on the vehicle 1 side, and performs data communication using a mobile phone communication network. Data communication module (data communication means) 10. The ECU 8 is supplied with signals indicating the operation states of the ABS device 11, the brake assist (BA) device 12, and the airbag device (A / B) 13 disposed in the vehicle 1, and sensor signals such as the vehicle speed sensor 6. The information can be transmitted to the in-vehicle device 2 via the in-vehicle LAN.
[0022]
When data transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 2 via the data communication module 10 is received by the base station 14 of the mobile telephone communication network, the data is transmitted to the management station 15 via a dedicated line. The management station 15 receives and manages data transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 2 of the vehicle 1 located within a predetermined communication range (cell) covered by the base station 14, and manages the data as necessary. This is transmitted to one side.
[0023]
Here, FIG. 2 schematically shows a communication system configuration in the G-BOOK system. That is, communication is performed between the in-vehicle device 2 and the base station 14 by the mobile phone communication network 16, and between the base station 14 and the management station 15 is a packet communication network (a dedicated communication line) via the network center 17. ) 18 to perform data communication.
[0024]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 schematically show communications performed in the traffic information providing system. That is, data is transmitted from the vehicle 1 located inside the cell 19 centered on the base station 14 to the management station 15. Then, for example, when information is estimated that an accident has occurred at the point PA where the vehicle 1A is located, information on the occurrence of the accident is given to the following vehicle 1B that is estimated to be heading to that point. Send
[0025]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing content for the control unit 4 of the in-vehicle device 2 to execute the above communication, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing content on the management station 15 side.
[0026]
In FIG. 5, when the control unit 4 is activated, the information of the telephone number of the data communication module 10, the current time obtained from the RTC 7, and the current position obtained from the position detection unit 3 are used as data packets as data packets via the data communication module 10. The data is transmitted to the management station 15 (step A1). Subsequently, the operation states of the ABS device 11, the brake assist device 12, and the airbag device 13 are checked by the ECU 8 via the in-vehicle LAN interface 9, and the running state of the vehicle 1 is involved in the traffic jam from the sensor signal of the vehicle speed sensor 6. It is determined whether or not it has been performed (step A2).
[0027]
The traffic jam is determined, for example, when the speed limit of the currently traveling road is determined to be 70 km / h based on the map data, and the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is, for example, less than 30 km / h. Alternatively, the determination is made in a case where running and stopping at an extremely low speed are alternately repeated.
[0028]
Then, the control unit 4 determines whether or not there is a status change in the operation state confirmed in step A2, that is, whether any of the devices 11 to 13 has been operated or whether traffic jam has been determined (step A3). . If there is no change in these situations ("NO"), the process proceeds to step A8, and after a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) has elapsed ("YES"), the information item having the same content as that transmitted in step A1 is added to "A". Information indicating "normal state" is added and transmitted to the management station 15 (step A9). Then, the process proceeds to step A2. Note that the timing in step A8 is started immediately after executing step A1, and thereafter, the reset is started every time a predetermined time elapses.
[0029]
On the other hand, if there is any status change in step A3, the control unit 4 proceeds to step A4, where the information item having the same content as that transmitted in step A1 indicates “change status”, that is, the status change. Is added and transmitted to the management station 15. Then, the process proceeds to step A2.
[0030]
If the predetermined time has not elapsed in step A8 ("NO"), the process proceeds to step A5. In step A5, the control unit 4 checks whether data has been transmitted from the management station 15. When data is transmitted, an interrupt is generated from the data communication module 10 to the control unit 4.
[0031]
Then, if there is an interrupt (step A6, "Yes"), the transmitted data is stored in the memory, and the data content (information) is displayed on the display unit 5 to notify the occupant of the vehicle 1 ( Step A7). Then, the process proceeds to step A2. If no interruption occurs in step A6 ("none"), the process proceeds to step A2.
[0032]
Next, processing on the management station 15 side will be described with reference to FIG. The management station 15 confirms the transmission of data from the in-vehicle device 2 (step B1), waits until there is an interruption (step B2, “Yes”), writes the data transmitted from the vehicle into the data table, and stores it. (Step B3).
[0033]
Here, FIG. 7 shows an example of the data table. In this case, the telephone number assigned to the data communication module 10 is used as ID data of each vehicle 1. In addition, since the data transmitted by the vehicle-mounted device 2 in step A1 does not include the state information of the vehicle 1, in this case, the registration is performed when the vehicle 1 enters the cell 19 first. When the status is "abnormal", the content of the "abnormal" is specifically stored.
[0034]
In the following step B4, the management station 15 refers to the data table and determines whether or not there is any vehicle 1 that has entered within a radius of 500 m around the point where the information indicating the abnormal state was transmitted in the past. If no vehicle 1 has entered within a radius of 500 m, the process returns to step B1.
[0035]
On the other hand, in step B4, when there is a vehicle 1 that has entered within a radius of 500 m, a call is made to the data communication module 10 provided in the vehicle-mounted device 2 of the vehicle 1, and information indicating the abnormal state is transmitted. (Step B5).
[0036]
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the airbag device 13 is activated due to a rear-end collision of the vehicle 1A, the information is transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 2 of the vehicle 1A to the management station 15. Then, when the vehicle 1B enters within a radius of 500 m around the position PA of the vehicle 1A to which the information was transmitted, the management station 15 informs the vehicle-mounted device 2 of the vehicle 1B that an accident has occurred at the position PA. Send the indicated information.
[0037]
As the information transmitted to the vehicle 1 in step B5, the information indicating the abnormal state (for example, the operation of the airbag device 13) transmitted from the vehicle side may be transmitted as it is, or the management station 15 may transmit the information based on the information. The state (for example, occurrence of an accident) determined as above may be transmitted. For example, the state determined as follows may be transmitted.
[0038]
ABS device 11 operation → danger level A
Operation of B / A device 12 → Danger level A
Operation of ABS device 11 and B / A device 12 → Danger level B
Operation of airbag device 13 → Danger level C
In this case, it goes without saying that the degree of danger is high from danger level A to C.
When the abnormal state is “congestion”, for example, information indicating that congestion has occurred at the position PA may be transmitted as information.
[0039]
In the service provided by the G-BOOK system, the usage fee is fixed regardless of the amount of communication data. Therefore, it is preferable to use the service when configuring the traffic information system of the present invention.
[0040]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the management station 15 grasps the vehicle 1 located in the cell 19 on the base station 14 side of the data communication module 10 based on the data transmitted from the in-vehicle device 2, If it is determined based on the data transmitted from the vehicle 1 that a state that hinders the traveling of the vehicle, for example, an accident has occurred, the other vehicle 1 that is presumed to head to the position of the vehicle 1 that transmitted the information is sent to the vehicle 1. Send the required traffic information. Then, the vehicle-mounted device 2 displays the received traffic information on the display unit 5 to notify the occupant of the vehicle.
[0041]
That is, the management station 15 can grasp the vehicle 1 located in the cell 19 in detail by the telephone number, the current position, and the current time, which are the ID data of the vehicle transmitted by each vehicle-mounted device 2. Therefore, since each vehicle 1 can quickly obtain important and urgent traffic information on its own driving, the data transmitted from each vehicle 1 can be more effectively utilized, and This can contribute to safe driving of the vehicle.
[0042]
Then, since the management station 15 sets the management range within the cell 19 managed by one base station 14 on the mobile phone communication network side, the management station 15 can manage information within a relatively limited area, and It is possible to improve the processing efficiency and to provide traffic information more quickly. In addition, by setting the ID data of the vehicle 1 as the telephone number of the data communication module 10, the ID data and the communication destination data are shared, so that the amount of information to be communicated can be reduced.
[0043]
Further, the control unit 4 of the vehicle-mounted device 2 sets the timing of transmitting data to the management station 15 at a fixed period, so that the management station 15 can grasp the position of each vehicle 1 in more detail. At the same time, the control unit 4 uses the case where the vehicle information indicates the operation of the ABS device 11 and the brake assist device 12 as a trigger for the transmission timing. Is locked, and transmission is performed when it is estimated that a relatively dangerous driving situation has occurred. Based on the transmitted data, the management station 15 can transmit traffic information at the point where the vehicle 1 is located. Can be determined.
[0044]
Further, since the control unit 4 sets the transmission timing by using the case where the vehicle information indicates the operation of the airbag device 13 as a trigger, the control unit 4 performs transmission when it is estimated that an accident has occurred almost certainly. The 15 side can determine the occurrence of an accident at the point where the vehicle 1 is located, and can provide information on the occurrence of the accident to the other vehicles 1 that are heading to that point.
[0045]
Further, the control unit 4 sets the transmission timing with the case where the vehicle information indicates the traffic congestion driving state as a trigger, so that the management station 15 side can determine the occurrence of traffic congestion on the road at the point where the vehicle 1 is located, and go to that point. Traffic congestion information can be provided to another vehicle 1 that is about to go.
[0046]
In addition, since the position detection unit 3, the display unit 5, and the control unit 4 of the on-vehicle device 2 are configured as a part of the functions of the vehicular navigation device, the functions required for both devices are shared and the on-vehicle device is efficiently used. Can be configured.
[0047]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, and the following modifications or extensions are possible.
It is not always necessary to configure using the G-BOOK system, and data communication performed by a general mobile phone communication network may be used.
Therefore, the in-vehicle device is not limited to the one configured using the terminal of the G-BOOK system. Further, it is needless to say that some functions do not necessarily have to be configured in common with the vehicle navigation device, and may be configured as an in-vehicle device dedicated to the traffic information providing system of the present invention.
Further, the range in which the management station manages data is not necessarily limited to a cell in which one base station has a communication range, and a plurality of adjacent cells may be set as a management range.
[0048]
The determination of the traffic jam may be performed outside the control unit 4.
The transmission timing does not necessarily need to be set to be at a fixed time interval. For example, the transmission may be performed only when the operation of the ABS device 11, the brake assist device 12, and the airbag device 13 is indicated as a trigger. Also, it is not necessary to use all of them as triggers, and only those which can be used according to the equipment of the vehicle may be used. Further, the vehicle information of the transmission trigger factor is not limited to the above, and other information that can be effectively used as traffic information may be appropriately selected.
The notification means may be one that performs notification by voice.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1 is a diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of a traffic information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a communication system configuration in a G-BOOK system; Diagram showing communication performed in the service providing system (part 1)
FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3 (part 2);
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing contents for the control unit of the vehicle-mounted device to execute communication; FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing contents on the management station side; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a data table managed by the management station side; [Explanation of symbols]
1 is a vehicle, 2 is an in-vehicle device, 3 is a position detection unit (position detection unit), 4 is a control unit (control unit, vehicle information collection unit), 5 is a display unit (notification unit), and 7 is an RTC (clock unit). Reference numeral 10 denotes a data communication module (data communication means), 11 denotes an ABS device, 12 denotes a brake assist device, 13 denotes an airbag device, 14 denotes a base station, 15 denotes a management station, and 19 denotes a cell.

Claims (9)

Position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle, vehicle information collecting means for collecting information on the running state of the vehicle, wireless communication means, and information for transmitting information transmitted from outside via the wireless communication means. A notification unit, and a control unit configured to acquire the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection unit and the vehicle information collected by the vehicle information collection unit, and to be capable of controlling the wireless communication unit. On-board equipment
A management station that is installed on the base station side of the wireless communication means and receives and manages data transmitted from the in-vehicle device via the wireless communication means;
The control unit of the in-vehicle device transmits, at a predetermined transmission timing, the ID data, the current position, the current time, and the vehicle information of the vehicle to the management station via the wireless communication unit,
The management station grasps vehicles located within a predetermined communication range on the base station side based on the data transmitted from the on-vehicle device, and detects the vehicles based on the vehicle information transmitted from those vehicles. If it is determined that a state that hinders traveling has occurred, the traffic information related to the vehicle information is transmitted to the in-vehicle device of another vehicle that is presumed to head to the position of the vehicle that transmitted the information. Characteristic traffic information providing system. The wireless communication means is constituted by data communication means using a mobile phone communication network,
The management station manages a cell managed by one base station on the communication network side as the predetermined communication range,
2. The traffic information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the control means of the on-vehicle device uses the ID data of the vehicle as a telephone number of the data communication means. The traffic information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit of the on-vehicle device sets the transmission timing at a constant cycle. 4. The transmission timing according to claim 1, wherein the control unit of the in-vehicle device sets the transmission timing when a vehicle information collected by the vehicle information collecting unit indicates an operation of an ABS (Antilock Break System). The traffic information providing system according to any of the above. 5. The transmission timing according to claim 1, wherein the control unit of the vehicle-mounted device sets a case where the vehicle information collected by the vehicle information collecting unit indicates an operation of the brake assist device as the transmission timing. Traffic information providing system. 6. The transmission timing according to claim 1, wherein the control unit of the on-vehicle device sets a case where the vehicle information collected by the vehicle information collecting unit indicates an operation of the airbag device as the transmission timing. Traffic information providing system. The traffic according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control unit of the on-vehicle device sets a case where the vehicle information collected by the vehicle information collecting unit indicates a traffic jam state as the transmission timing. Information provision system. The traffic information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein at least the position detecting means, the notifying means, and the control means of the on-vehicle device are configured as a part of a function of the vehicle navigation device. system. The in-vehicle device detects the current position of the vehicle, collects information on the running condition of the vehicle, and transmits the vehicle ID data, the current position, the current time, and the vehicle information at a predetermined transmission timing via wireless communication means. The management station is installed on the base station side of the wireless communication means, receives and manages data transmitted from the in-vehicle device via the wireless communication means, and manages the data based on the transmitted data. When vehicles located within a predetermined communication range on the base station side are grasped, and when it is determined that a state that hinders traveling of the vehicle has occurred based on vehicle information transmitted from those vehicles, the information is determined. For in-vehicle devices of other vehicles that are estimated to head to the position of the transmitted vehicle, transmit traffic information related to the vehicle information,
The traffic information providing method, wherein the in-vehicle device receives and informs the traffic information.

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