JP2005207223A - Remote control system for vehicle and tire pneumatic pressure monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a delay time by a time when an unlocking operation is performed after the occurrence of a trigger in the smart entry system of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: When a request signal is transmitted from an antenna for transmission at a position where the trigger occurs (for example, a right side antenna 25 on the outside of a cabin), an obstruction signal stopping the receiving of the request signal at positions other than that position (inverse signal formed by inverting pulse rows in modulation relative to the request signal) is transmitted from an antenna disposed at a position other than that position (for example, a left side antenna 24 on the outside of the cabin) together with the request signal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle remote control system and a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). As a remote control system, for example, a system (Smart Entry System) that performs locking / unlocking / opening / closing operation of a vehicle door or trunk with one touch or automatically without using a mechanical key by bidirectional communication between a portable device and an in-vehicle device. )

As a typical example of a vehicle remote control system, there is a system (Smart Entry System; an advanced type of a keyless entry system) that locks and unlocks a door of a vehicle with one touch or automatically without using a mechanical key. is there.
As this smart entry system, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 4, the user approaches or contacts the door handle on the outer surface of the door, or the user is provided in the vicinity of the door handle. It is determined that the user has operated the designated button as an intentional or unconscious statement of intention to operate, and this is used as a trigger to perform bidirectional communication between the portable device carried by the user and the in-vehicle device. A vehicle door unlocking operation is automatically executed on the condition that an answer signal including an appropriate ID code (authentication code) from the portable device is received by the in-vehicle device in response to the request signal of Are known.

Further, in Patent Document 2, an antenna on the vehicle-mounted device side is provided inside and outside the vehicle, and depending on which antenna establishes communication with the portable device, the position of the portable device inside or outside the vehicle is determined, or A technique is disclosed in which a plurality of antennas are provided in a vehicle interior, and the position of the portable device is determined more accurately based on the communication status (reception strength) between these antennas and the portable device.
Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for making a communicable range from a vehicle interior antenna to a portable device an appropriate width without constriction, for example, by simultaneously transmitting signals from antennas arranged in front and rear of the vehicle interior. ing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a conventional example of such a smart entry system.
In this example, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), vehicle exterior antennas (a vehicle exterior right side antenna and a vehicle exterior left side antenna) are provided at left and right side positions of the vehicle 1 (for example, inside the B pillar or in a door mirror). A vehicle interior antenna (a vehicle interior front antenna and a vehicle interior rear antenna) is provided at each of the front portion (front seat side) and the rear portion (rear seat side) of the vehicle 1. These in-vehicle device-side antennas are antennas for transmitting a downstream signal (for example, the request signal) from the in-vehicle device to the portable device, and an upstream signal (for example, the answer signal) from the portable device to the in-vehicle device. In this case, for example, a separate antenna attached to a control unit (ECU) (not shown) constituting the vehicle-mounted device is used as the reception antenna on the vehicle-mounted device side for reception. In addition, as the carrier wave of the downlink signal, LF (long wave) that allows easy wake-up of the portable device and power transmission to the portable device and easy setting of the boundary of the communicable area is used. UHF (ultra-high frequency), which can easily transmit a large amount of information over a wide range, is used.

  In this example, the operation proceeds, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, for example, when a driver carrying a portable device (not shown) approaches a driver's seat door (right door) of a vehicle in a door-locked state and reaches a door handle to open the driver's seat door, this is illustrated. The omitted door handle sensor on the driver's seat detects the detection signal, and this detection signal is input as a trigger to the control unit constituting the in-vehicle device not shown. When this trigger is input, transmission of a request signal is started from the right antenna outside the vehicle compartment where the trigger is generated, after the time T1 has elapsed, under the control of the control unit. Next, after the time T2 required for the transmission of the request signal from the right antenna outside the passenger compartment and the reception operation of the answer signal from the portable device corresponding thereto, transmission of the request signal from the left antenna outside the passenger compartment is started. Next, after the time T3 required for the transmission of the request signal from the left outside antenna and the reception operation of the answer signal from the portable device corresponding thereto, the transmission of the request signal is started from the vehicle interior front antenna and the vehicle interior rear antenna. . Then, after the transmission of the request signal from the vehicle interior transmission antenna and the reception operation of the answer signal from the portable device corresponding thereto, the control unit is configured so that the condition for automatically unlocking the door is satisfied. A control process for unlocking the door (for example, a control signal output process for operating the door lock actuator in the unlocking direction) is executed, and a series of operations (automatic unlocking operation) is completed after the time T4 and T5 required for these processes have elapsed. To do.

  As for the door locking operation, if there is a predetermined trigger input, the communication operation from each antenna as shown in FIG. 6B is performed a plurality of times, and then automatic locking is performed. For example, if the door handle sensor detects that a person's hand has left the door handle on the outer surface of the door after the door is closed, this triggers the communication from each antenna in the same manner. If the condition for automatically locking the door is satisfied, a control process for locking the door (for example, a control signal output process for operating the door lock actuator in the locking direction) is executed.

  Here, the condition for automatically unlocking the door is that the proper answer signal including the proper ID code is received from the portable device, for example, the side on which the portable device has a trigger input outside the passenger compartment (above In this case, it is substantially determined that the vehicle is located on the driver's seat side). This is because it is not preferable that unlocking is executed even when the portable device is on the side opposite to the side where the trigger is input, or unlocking is executed while the portable device is in the passenger compartment.

This is because even if the LF band is used, it is difficult to limit the communicable area of the antenna outside the vehicle compartment to only a specific side outside the vehicle compartment. Normally, as shown in FIG. A wide area also becomes a communicable area, and a radio wave leakage area (B area) to the outside of the vehicle compartment on the opposite side also occurs.
For this reason, if it is a mode in which automatic unlocking is based only on ID authentication through communication from the antenna on the side where the trigger is input outside the passenger compartment, a driver with a portable device stays in the vehicle and intentionally opens the door. However, if another person generates a trigger by operating the door handle, etc., the door will be unlocked against the intention of the driver, etc. If the door is locked in a state where it has been misplaced, it is possible for another person to generate a trigger by operating the door handle, etc., to unlock the door, reducing crime prevention and mischievous children. This is because an unnecessary automatic unlocking operation may occur. For example, when a driver or the like carrying a portable device stands near the driver's seat door (in the area B), automatic unlocking is possible even if a trigger is generated by the door handle operation of the opposite passenger door. This is because there is a risk of unauthorized entry into the passenger compartment from the opposite side, which is also a problem in terms of crime prevention.

Here, the condition for automatically locking the door is that the proper answer signal including the proper ID code is received from the portable device, for example, that the portable device is not in the vehicle compartment, or further, for example, the portable device. It is determined that the aircraft has finally moved out of the communicable area of the antenna outside the vehicle compartment (that is, the driver has left the vehicle).
This is because if the lock is executed while the portable device is in the passenger compartment, the portable device is closed. Also, if locking is performed while a driver carrying a portable device is near the vehicle, the automatic locking operation will be performed unnecessarily when the driver or the like is near the vehicle for purpose. Because it is inconvenient.

  Therefore, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), at least one communication is sequentially performed from each antenna to the portable device, and ID authentication of the portable device is performed by any communication. The position of the portable device is determined (determining whether the vehicle is inside or outside the vehicle, whether the vehicle is on the right side or the left side). In the example of FIG. 6B, in order to realize the optimization of the detectable area of the vehicle interior communication (the elimination of the area A which is a constricted portion of the communicable area) according to the principle of Patent Document 3, Signals are simultaneously output from the vehicle interior antennas, but when there are a plurality of vehicle interior antennas, signals may be sequentially output from these antennas. Further, in a compact car or the like, there may be one vehicle interior antenna.

JP-A-10-308149 JP 2002-77972 A JP 2002-46541 A JP 2003-20838 A

  Incidentally, in the conventional vehicle remote control system described above, the delay time (time lag) from the generation of a trigger to the execution of a predetermined processing operation (for example, vehicle door locking / unlocking control) is, for example, in the case of FIG. The total of the times T1 to T5 is a considerably long time. In particular, when there are many antennas outside the vehicle compartment (for example, when antennas outside the vehicle compartment are provided for the left and right doors and the rear door or trunk and the same control is performed for the rear door or trunk), Since communication is sequentially performed between the antenna and the portable device, a time similar to the time T2 or T3 is increased by the number of antennas, and the delay time is increased. For this reason, there has been a demand to reduce the time required for communication for each transmission antenna as much as possible, to further shorten the delay time, and to improve the responsiveness.

  Note that the device disclosed in Patent Document 4 transmits a request signal from the transmission antenna on the side where the trigger is generated, and outputs a forbidden signal for prohibiting the reply of the answer signal from the other in-vehicle device side transmission antenna. It has the feature in the point which transmits by. And by this characteristic, it is going to shorten the said delay time rather than the case where two-way communication is sequentially performed between each transmission antenna and a portable device.

  However, in this apparatus, as can be seen from FIG. 3 and the like of Patent Document 4, the processing operation on the portable device side determines whether or not the prohibition signal has been received within a certain period of time after receiving the request signal. Processing is performed, and when the prohibition signal is not received as a result of the determination processing, an answer signal is returned. Correspondingly, the processing operation on the vehicle-mounted device side first transmits a request signal from the transmission antenna on the side where the trigger occurs, as described in FIG. The process is completed, and then the prohibition signal is transmitted from the other in-vehicle device side transmission antenna, and further, the process of receiving the proper answer signal from the portable device is executed, and the proper answer signal is received. The procedure is to perform control such as unlocking as a condition. For this reason, at least the prohibition signal is transmitted and received, and it takes an extra time to determine whether to receive this prohibition signal, and the request signal and the answer signal are simply transmitted and received once and verified. The overall delay time is still considerably larger than the basic operation time (for example, the sum of the times T1, T2, and T5 in FIG. 6B) required to execute the unlocking control or the like based on this verification. There is a problem of becoming longer.

In addition, there is a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) as a system similar to the smart entry system in that two-way communication is performed in the vehicle, but this system also has a similar problem.
The TPMS is provided for each tire of the vehicle and a vehicle body side controller capable of transmitting a radio signal via a vehicle body side transmission antenna provided for each specific tire of the vehicle. A sensor unit capable of measuring the air pressure and transmitting the measurement result as a radio signal, and the vehicle body side controller sends a request signal to the corresponding tire sensor unit from the vehicle body side transmitting antenna at a specific location at a predetermined timing. The sensor unit that transmitted and received the response transmits an answer signal including the measurement result to the vehicle body side controller, and the vehicle body side controller that receives the signal reads the measurement result, for example, with an abnormal air pressure. In some cases, the system executes a control that outputs an alarm.

  In this system, when a request signal is transmitted from the vehicle-side transmitting antenna at a specific location to communicate with the corresponding tire sensor unit, the other tire sensor units may receive this request signal and answer , And the vehicle side controller cannot receive the answer signal normally, or it may receive an answer signal from another tire by mistake, and it will not be possible to determine which tire's air pressure signal. There is a fear. And in order to eliminate the problem that communication is complicated in this way, for example, a unique identification code is set for each tire, this identification code is included in the request signal and transmitted, and the tire sensor unit receives the received request. It can be considered that the identification code included in the signal is checked against an identification code stored in advance, and an answer signal is returned only when the matching result is the same. In this case, however, communication takes time corresponding to the verification of the identification code, and there is a disadvantage that the responsiveness is lowered (the delay time required for monitoring the tire pressure is increased). Further, in this case, the setting of the sensor unit is different for each tire, and there is a drawback that the ease of management of the sensor unit and the workability at the time of assembly are lowered.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a vehicle remote control system such as a smart entry system, and provides a system capable of further reducing the delay time from the occurrence of a trigger until a predetermined processing operation is executed, and An object of the present invention is to provide a tire pressure monitoring system capable of eliminating the above-described problem of complication of communication without adverse effects.

The vehicle remote control system of the present application is a portable device that can be carried by a user and an in-vehicle device that performs two-way wireless communication between the portable device and a transmission antenna installed at a plurality of locations of the vehicle. An in-vehicle device capable of transmitting a radio signal to the portable device via the mobile device and an operation intention of a user who is installed at a plurality of locations of the vehicle corresponding to the location of the transmitting antenna and approaches the corresponding location is detected. An operation intention detection unit, triggered by the detection of a user's operation intention by the operation intention detection unit, via the transmitting antenna disposed at a corresponding position of the vehicle, A predetermined request signal is transmitted to the device, and the vehicle-mounted device is based on a reception result in the vehicle-mounted device regarding an answer signal transmitted from the portable device in response to the request signal. A vehicular remote control system for executing predetermined processing operation,
The in-vehicle device is
When transmitting the request signal from the transmitting antenna at the corresponding location where the trigger has occurred, the request signal is transmitted from the transmitting antenna disposed at a location other than the corresponding location to prevent the reception of the request signal. It is characterized by transmitting simultaneously in at least a part of a period of time.

Here, the “transmitting antenna” means at least an antenna used for signal transmission from the in-vehicle device to the portable device, but is also used as a receiving antenna for receiving a signal from the portable device to the in-vehicle device. Needless to say, it may be a thing.
Further, the “request signal” does not necessarily include data for requesting a reply from the portable device, and may be a signal that causes the portable device to reply an answer signal in response to this signal. For example, a mode in which a wake-up signal that activates a portable device that is in a power saving mode and in a so-called standby state (sleep state) to a normal operation mode may also serve as the request signal.

In addition, the “request signal” may be a digital wireless signal that is transmitted by modulating a carrier wave with a pulse train corresponding to digital data (original signal data). Here, as a modulation method, for example, there may be so-called ASK (amplitude modulation), FSK (frequency modulation), and the like.
Further, as the “interfering signal”, for example, an inverted signal in which a pulse train at the time of modulation is inverted with respect to the request signal of the digital radio system is preferable, but any signal that prevents the proper reception of the request signal can be used. An aspect may be sufficient.
In addition to a general vehicle such as a four-wheel automobile, the “vehicle” naturally includes a vehicle equivalent to a general vehicle (for example, a small airplane).

  In the vehicular remote control system of the present application, when a request signal is transmitted from the transmitting antenna at the corresponding location where the trigger is generated, an interference signal that prevents reception of the request signal (for example, when the request signal is modulated). (Inverted signal obtained by inverting the pulse train) is transmitted at the same time as the request signal from a transmitting antenna arranged at a location other than the corresponding portion. For this reason, the request signal is not properly received at a place other than the corresponding place where the trigger is generated (for example, the vehicle left side opposite to the vehicle right side where the trigger is generated) (for example, the data is inverted with respect to the normal request signal). The answer signal is not received). For example, in the example of FIG. 6A, when a request signal is transmitted from the transmitting antenna (right antenna outside the passenger compartment) at the corresponding location where the trigger has occurred, the above-mentioned B area (radio leakage area) on the left side of the vehicle Even if there is a portable device, this portable device is prevented from receiving a legitimate request signal by the interference signal, and the answer signal is not returned from the portable device.

  Therefore, according to the vehicular remote control system of the present application, it is necessary to perform communication separately sequentially from the transmitting antenna (for example, the transmitting antenna on the opposite side) where the trigger is not generated for the position determination of the portable device. Thus, it is not necessary to transmit the above-mentioned prohibition signal separately from the transmitting antenna at the location where the trigger is not generated, and the overall delay time can be remarkably shortened compared to the conventional case. As will be described later, in some cases, it is not necessary to perform communication separately from all transmitting antennas (for example, including vehicle interior antennas) other than the corresponding part where the trigger is generated. (Same as the time required for the basic operation of simply transmitting a request signal from the transmitting antenna at the location where the trigger occurred and executing a predetermined control process based on the answer signal from the portable device for this request signal) Can significantly reduce the delay time.

Next, according to a preferred aspect of the vehicle remote control system of the present application, the disturbing signal is transmitted in a time-dispersed manner from the transmitting antennas arranged at locations other than the corresponding location (that is, not transmitted at the same time). ) Embodiment. In this case, the load on the transmission circuit can be significantly reduced. For example, when the interference signal is transmitted from each transmitting antenna disposed at a location other than the corresponding location at the same time, when there are a plurality of transmitting antennas disposed at locations other than the corresponding location, the load on the transmission circuit becomes large. . However, if transmission is performed with time dispersion, the number of transmitting antennas that transmit the interference signal is always one, and the load on the transmission circuit can be significantly reduced.
In another preferred aspect, the processing operation is a control process related to locking / unlocking / opening / closing of a door or trunk of a vehicle, and the transmission antenna and the operation intention detecting means are provided with a door or trunk of the vehicle. It is installed in the right and left both sides or rear part side of a vehicle, and the said operation intention is an aspect which is the operation intention regarding locking / unlocking or opening / closing of the door or trunk of a vehicle. In this case, it is a smart entry system for vehicles that automatically locks and unlocks or opens / closes a door or trunk of a vehicle without using a mechanical key, and is highly responsive with a reduced delay time as described above. A system can be realized.

Further, the tire pressure monitoring system of the present application includes a vehicle body side controller capable of transmitting a radio signal via a vehicle body side transmission antenna provided near each tire for each specific tire of the vehicle, and each tire of the vehicle. Provided with a sensor unit that measures the air pressure of each tire and transmits the measurement result as a radio signal, and the vehicle body side controller responds from a vehicle body side transmitting antenna at a specific location at a predetermined timing. A tire pressure monitoring system that transmits a request signal to a unit, and the sensor unit that receives the request signal transmits an answer signal including the measurement result to the vehicle body side controller,
The vehicle body side controller
When transmitting the request signal from the vehicle-side transmitting antenna at a specific location, the request signal is transmitted from the vehicle-side transmitting antenna disposed at a location other than the specific location, to prevent the reception of the request signal. It is characterized by transmitting simultaneously in at least a part of a period of time.

  Here, the disturbing signal is preferably an inverted signal obtained by inverting the pulse train at the time of modulation with respect to the request signal of the digital radio system.

In the tire pressure monitoring system of the present application, when a request signal is transmitted from the vehicle-side transmitting antenna at a specific location, an interference signal (for example, the inversion signal) that prevents reception of the request signal is arranged at a location other than the specific location. It is transmitted simultaneously with this request signal from the vehicle body side transmitting antenna. For this reason, in the sensor units of the tires other than the corresponding portions, the request signal is not normally received and the answer signal is not reliably returned.
Therefore, according to the tire pressure monitoring system of the present application, it is possible to eliminate the above-described possibility of the occurrence of the trouble that communication is complicated as described above. In other words, a special process (for example, a process for setting a unique identification code for each tire and checking the identification code in the sensor unit) for preventing the above-described troubles in communication is unnecessary. . As a result, for example, responsiveness is improved (delay time required for tire pressure monitoring is shortened), sensor unit settings are not different for each tire, and sensor unit management is easy and workability is assembling. The advantage that can be secured high is obtained.
Next, in a preferred aspect of the tire pressure monitoring system of the present application, the disturbance signal is transmitted in a time-dispersed manner from each vehicle-side transmitting antenna arranged at a location other than the specific location (that is, transmitted simultaneously). Embodiment). In this case, the load on the transmission circuit can be significantly reduced. For example, when there is a plurality of vehicle-side transmission antennas arranged outside the specific location, the interference signal is transmitted simultaneously from the vehicle-side transmission antennas arranged outside the specific location (four wheels). In the case of a vehicle, there are usually three), and the load on the transmission circuit becomes great. However, if transmission is performed with time dispersion, the vehicle body side transmitting antenna that transmits the interference signal is always one, and the load on the transmission circuit can be significantly reduced.

  According to the vehicle remote control system of the present application, it is necessary to perform communication separately from the transmitting antenna at the location where the trigger is not generated for the position determination of the portable device, or the transmitting antenna at the location where the trigger is not generated. Thus, it is not necessary to separately transmit the prohibition signal described above, and the overall delay time can be remarkably reduced as compared with the prior art.

In addition, according to the tire pressure monitoring system of the present application, it is possible to eliminate the above-described fear of the occurrence of the trouble that the communication is complicated as described above.
Also, in any system, the load on the transmission circuit can be remarkably reduced when the disturbing signal is transmitted in a temporally dispersed manner.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Example of remote control system for vehicles)
First, the 1st example of a vehicle remote control system is demonstrated.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the schematic configuration and operation of a vehicle remote control system (vehicle smart entry system) of this example. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a signal transmitted from the vehicle exterior antenna. 3 and 4 are flowcharts for explaining operations of the portable device and the vehicle-mounted device, respectively. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a communicable area of the vehicle interior antenna and signals transmitted from the vehicle interior antenna.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the system includes a portable device 10 that can be carried by a user, an in-vehicle device 20 that communicates with the portable device 10 in a digital wireless manner, and an operation intention detection unit that is not shown. Prepare.
Here, the operation intention detection means is provided on the driver seat side (right side of the vehicle) and the passenger seat side (left side of the vehicle) in this case, for example, close to the door handle on the outer surface of the driver seat or the passenger seat door. It comprises a sensor (for example, one described in Patent Document 1 described above) that detects the user's human body that has touched, or a switch provided with an operation button in the vicinity of the door handle.

  The portable device 10 includes an antenna and a receiving circuit (not shown) for receiving a request signal from the in-vehicle device 20, and an antenna and a transmitting circuit (not shown) for transmitting an answer signal to the on-vehicle device 20 at a predetermined frequency. A control circuit (not shown) including a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) that realizes control processing of the entire portable device and storage of ID codes, etc., a built-in battery (not shown), and the power of this built-in battery A power supply circuit (not shown) for supplying power to the consumption elements (the reception circuit, the transmission circuit, the control circuit, etc.) and a power supply control circuit (not shown) for performing power supply control are provided inside. The operation surface of the portable device 10 is provided with a lock switch and an unlock switch (not shown) which are push button type operation units.

Here, the control circuit of the portable device 10 includes, for example, a nonvolatile portable device-side storage device (for example, E ² PROM; not shown) that can be written and erased as a storage device for the ID code or the like.
Further, the microcomputer constituting the control circuit is normally in a standby state that is a power saving mode as will be described later, and is appropriately switched from this standby state to a normal mode (a startup state that is not in a standby state). . Even when the locking switch or unlocking switch is operated in the standby state, the control circuit shifts to the normal mode and accepts this switch operation.

In addition, the control circuit of the portable device 10 has a function of executing the following processing operation by setting an operation program of the microcomputer.
That is, for example, when a signal having a specified frequency or higher (pre-demodulation) at a specified frequency corresponding to the request signal is received, the mode is changed to the normal mode and this signal is received. As shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not the request signal is (step S1). Specifically, the received signal (binary data string after demodulation) is analyzed, and the same data as the ID code or the like stored in the portable device-side storage means is received at a predetermined location (for example, an ID portion) of the received signal. If it is affirmative, it is determined that it is a regular request signal.

If it is determined in step S1 that the request signal is a legitimate request signal, the process proceeds to step S2, and an answer signal including the ID code stored in the portable device storage unit is transmitted a predetermined number of times. If it is not determined that the request signal is a legitimate request signal in step S1, the process proceeds to step S3.
Next, in step S3, the process returns to the standby state and waits for signal input again.

  The portable device 10 also has a function of transmitting a lock command signal or an unlock command signal including the ID code and data of the lock command or the unlock command when the lock switch or the unlock switch is operated. In addition, when these locking command signals or unlocking command signals are transmitted and received by the in-vehicle device 20, the control function of the in-vehicle device 20 confirms the ID code and then locks or locks the door of the vehicle 1. The unlocking operation is executed. That is, the system of this example including the portable device 10 and the vehicle-mounted device 20 is configured to realize the same function as a general keyless entry system (a rudimentary unidirectional communication type).

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1A, the in-vehicle device 20 includes a control unit 21, a vehicle interior antenna (a vehicle interior front antenna 22 and a vehicle interior rear antenna 23), and a vehicle exterior antenna (a vehicle exterior left antenna 24). And a vehicle exterior right side antenna 25) and a receiving antenna (not shown). The receiving antenna is built in the control unit 21, for example.

The control unit 21 includes a control circuit (not shown) including a microcomputer, a transmission circuit (not shown) for transmitting a request signal, a receiving circuit (not shown) for receiving an answer signal, and the like.
Here, the control circuit includes a microcomputer, and further includes, for example, a nonvolatile on-vehicle storage device (for example, E ² PROM; not shown) that can be written / erased as a storage device such as an ID code. This control circuit is intermittently activated at a predetermined period, so that power consumption is minimized.

Further, the control circuit of the control unit 21 constituting the in-vehicle device 20 has a function of executing the following processing operation for automatic unlocking according to the operation program setting of the microcomputer.
That is, for example, the processing shown in FIG. First, in step S11, whether or not there is a trigger input for automatic unlocking of the vehicle door (that is, the output of any of the aforementioned operation intention detection means provided on the driver seat side or the passenger seat side in the door locked state is active). If there is a trigger input, the process proceeds to step S12. If there is no trigger input, the process ends.
Next, in step S12, it is determined whether the trigger input is generated on the driver's seat side (right side) or on the passenger seat side (left side). If it is the right side, the process proceeds to step S13, and if it is the left side, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S13, a prescribed request signal is transmitted from the right transmitting antenna (outside the vehicle right side antenna 25) where the trigger is generated, and at the same time, an inverted signal (interference signal) is transmitted from the other transmitting antenna (the outside left antenna 24). ). Note that the inverted signal as the interference signal may be transmitted in the entire time zone in which the request signal is transmitted, but may be transmitted simultaneously in at least a part of the time zone in which the request signal is transmitted. . This is because it can be prevented from being received as a regular request signal even during a certain period. Further, when there are three or more transmitting antennas and two or more transmitting antennas that transmit interference signals (for example, an operation intention detecting means and a transmitting antenna are provided for a rear seat door or / and a trunk). In the case where the transmission signal is dispersed from each transmitting antenna in time, an interference signal is output (an aspect in which the interference signal is sequentially transmitted from each transmission antenna, for example, and is not transmitted simultaneously). By setting it as such an aspect, the load of a transmission circuit can be reduced.

Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the inverted signal is a signal obtained by inverting a pulse train (digital signal) at the time of modulation with respect to a regular request signal. 2 shows an example (100110) of a binary data string of request signals. The second row from the top in FIG. 2 is a regular pulse train (corresponding to “1” for rising and “0” for falling) corresponding to this binary data sequence. In this case, it is transmitted from the right antenna 25 outside the passenger compartment as a normal request signal (after demodulation). Further, the third row from the top in FIG. 2 is a pulse train obtained by inverting the regular pulse train, and a carrier wave, for example, ASK modulated with this pulse train is transmitted from the left antenna 24 outside the vehicle in this case as the inverted signal. The
The transmission output of the inverted signal may be set basically the same as that of the regular request signal, but the purpose (radio wave leakage area; prevention of request signal reception in the B area, etc.) is more accurate with the minimum necessary output. From the standpoint of achieving the above, a transmission output different from the regular request signal may be used.

On the other hand, in step S14, contrary to step S13, a prescribed request signal is transmitted from the left transmitting antenna (outside compartment left antenna 24) where the trigger occurred, and at the same time, the opposite transmitting antenna (outside compartment right antenna). 25), the inverted signal is transmitted.
Next, after step S13 or S14, it is determined in step S15 whether or not a regular answer signal has been received during a predetermined reception waiting time. Specifically, it is determined whether or not a signal including a code that coincides with an ID code or the like stored in the in-vehicle device side storage means is received via a receiving antenna. If such a normal answer signal is received during a predetermined reception waiting time, the process proceeds to the next step S16, and if the reception waiting time has elapsed without receiving the normal answer signal, a process is performed. Exit.

In step S16, as shown in FIG. 5B, a regular request signal is transmitted simultaneously from both the vehicle interior front antenna 22 and the vehicle interior rear antenna 23, and the process proceeds to step S17.
Next, in step S17, as in step S15, it is determined whether a regular answer signal has been received during a predetermined reception waiting time. If the normal answer signal is received during the predetermined reception waiting time, the process is terminated, and if the reception waiting time has passed without receiving the normal answer signal, the process proceeds to the next step S18. .
Finally, in step S18, a control process for executing the door unlocking operation is performed, and the process ends.

According to the processing described above, the unlocking operation is realized in the flow shown in the timing chart of FIG.
That is, for example, when the driver carrying the portable device 10 approaches the driver's seat door (right door) of a vehicle in a door-locked state and reaches the door handle to open the driver's seat door, this is not shown. The detected door handle sensor (operation intention detection means) on the driver's seat detects the detected signal and inputs the detection signal to the control unit 21 as a trigger. When there is this trigger input, the processing of steps S11 to S13 of the control unit 21 starts transmission of a regular request signal from the right outside antenna 25 after the time T1, and simultaneously from the left outside antenna 24 outside the passenger compartment at the same time. The above inversion signal is started to be transmitted. Next, after the time T2 required for the transmission of the request signal from the vehicle exterior right side antenna 25 and the reception operation of the answer signal from the portable device 10 corresponding thereto, the request signal from the vehicle interior front antenna 22 and the vehicle interior rear antenna 23 Starts to be sent. Next, after the transmission of the request signal from these vehicle interior transmitting antennas and the reception operation of the answer signal from the portable device 10 in response thereto, the control unit 21 performs the condition for automatically unlocking the door (in step S15). If the determination is affirmative and the determination in step S17 is negative), a control process for unlocking the door is executed by the process in step S18, and the time required for these times T4 and T5 has elapsed. Later, a series of operations (automatic unlocking operation) is completed.

  In this case, a normal request signal is not transmitted from the left antenna 24 outside the passenger compartment, but there is no problem. If a normal answer signal is received with respect to the request signal transmission from the right side antenna 25 outside the passenger compartment on the side where the trigger is generated (that is, if the determination in step S15 is affirmative), the portable device 10 is at least a vehicle This is because it can be determined that it is not located on the left side (the opposite side to the right side where the trigger occurs).

  This is because when a request signal is transmitted from the transmitting antenna at the corresponding location where the trigger has occurred, an interfering signal (in this case, the inversion signal described above) that prevents reception of the request signal is on the opposite side of the corresponding location. It is transmitted simultaneously with this request signal from the arranged transmitting antenna (see steps S13 and S14). For this reason, the request signal is not properly received on the side opposite to the corresponding place where the trigger is generated (for example, the vehicle left side opposite to the vehicle right side where the trigger is generated) (in this case, for example, as shown in the bottom row of FIG. 2). In addition, a signal in which data is inverted with respect to a regular request signal is received), and an answer signal is not returned. In the case of the above specific example, in FIG. 1A, when a request signal is transmitted from the right antenna 25 outside the cabin where the trigger has occurred, the portable device 10 is located in the aforementioned B area (radio leak area) on the left side of the vehicle. However, the portable device 10 is prevented from receiving a legitimate request signal by the interference signal from the left antenna 24 outside the vehicle compartment, and the answer signal is not returned from the portable device 10.

  In the normal case where the portable device 10 is on the side where the trigger is generated near the vehicle (when the user who has generated the trigger is carrying the portable device 10), the portable device 10 is shown in FIG. A signal as shown in the second row from the bottom is received, and a normal request signal can be normally received. This is because the jamming signal transmitted from the opposite side is sufficiently attenuated on the side where the trigger is generated and does not affect the reception of the regular request signal. For this reason, in this case, the determination in step S15 becomes affirmative and the determination in step S17 becomes negative, and step S18 is executed, so that the automatic unlocking operation is surely executed.

Further, when the portable device 10 is in the vehicle interior (for example, when a driver carrying the portable device 10 is in the vehicle interior and locks the door, or when the portable device 10 is left in the vehicle interior) Basically, the portable device 10 receives a signal as shown in the third row from the bottom of FIG. 2, and the portable device 10 normally receives a normal request signal. Since it cannot be received, even if a trigger occurs, the determination result in step S15 is negative and the automatic unlocking operation is not performed, so that the security and the accuracy of automatic unlocking are ensured.
However, depending on conditions such as the position of the antenna outside the vehicle compartment and the transmission output of the interference signal, it is portable near the door on the side where the trigger is generated in the vehicle compartment (near the antenna outside the vehicle compartment where the regular request signal is transmitted). If there is a device 10, as shown in the second row from the bottom of FIG. 2, the mobile device 10 normally receives the normal request signal (ie, the determination result in step S5 becomes affirmative). ), Automatic unlocking may be performed improperly.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, after the transmission operation of the request signal and the inverted signal from the antenna outside the vehicle compartment and the reception operation of the answer signal corresponding thereto (that is, at the timing of the time T4 after the time T2), A request signal transmission operation from the indoor antenna and an answer signal reception operation (steps S16 to S17) are executed, and a normal answer signal is not received for the request signal from the vehicle interior antenna (ie, step S17). Is a necessary condition for the automatic unlocking operation of the door (step S18).
Thereby, even when a trigger is generated when the portable device 10 is in the vehicle interior, the automatic unlocking operation is not reliably performed, and high crime prevention and the like are ensured. This is because if the portable device 10 is in the vehicle interior, the response of the answer signal from the portable device 10 is reliably executed and received by the vehicle-mounted device in response to the transmission of the request signal from the vehicle interior antenna described above. This is because the determination result of step S17 becomes affirmative.

  Particularly in the case of this embodiment, as shown in the second and third stages from the top in FIG. 5B, the regular request signal is simultaneously received from both the vehicle interior front antenna 22 and the vehicle interior rear antenna 23. Is sending. For this reason, as shown in the 4th stage (bottom stage) from the top of FIG. 5B, the amplitude of the signal is increased by the synthesis of the radio waves compared to the case where each antenna is transmitted alone, and each antenna is transmitted alone. Even in a constricted region (A area shown in FIG. 5A), the portable device 10 can normally receive the request signal. Therefore, the above action (function of not automatically unlocking when the portable device is in the vehicle compartment) is realized with higher reliability.

Therefore, according to the smart entry system of this example, it is necessary to sequentially communicate separately from the transmitting antenna on the side where the trigger is not generated for the position determination of the portable device 10, or transmission of the portion where the trigger is not generated It is not necessary to transmit the above-described prohibition signal separately from the antenna, and the overall delay time can be significantly shortened compared to the conventional case.
For example, when compared with the conventional example shown in FIG. 6B, as is clear from FIG. 1B, the delay time is remarkably increased by the time T3 required for communication from the antenna on the opposite side. Shortened.

  In the processing example of FIG. 4, only the door unlocking operation has been described, but the same effect can be obtained by applying the present invention to the door locking operation. That is, a condition that triggers transmission of a request signal during the door locking operation (for example, the door is closed and the hand is released from the door knob, or the switch button provided near the door knob is operated, and the locking operation is instructed. When the request is established, the request signal is transmitted from the antenna outside the vehicle compartment on the side where the trigger is established, and at the same time, the interference signal is transmitted from the antenna outside the vehicle compartment on the opposite side. This eliminates the need for an extra operation such as separately transmitting a request signal or a prohibition signal from the antenna on the opposite side of the passenger compartment, and can significantly reduce the delay time.

Next, a second embodiment of the vehicle remote control system will be described with reference to FIG.
As described above, the disturbing signal may be transmitted simultaneously in at least a part of the time zone in which the request signal is transmitted. The second embodiment has such characteristics. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11B, the interference signal is output only for the first pulse in which the data becomes “0” in the pulse train of the request signal, and the signal is output for the other pulses. Do not output. In other words, an interference signal is output only by inverting a part of the pulse train of the request signal (a pulse that first becomes “0”). In this case, as shown in FIG. 11A, the disturbance signal is transmitted only in a short period of the time zone in which the request signal is transmitted, thereby reducing the burden on the transmission circuit. be able to.

  In the second embodiment, the interference signal is transmitted only for the first pulse that is “0”, but it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to such a mode. For example, an interference signal may be transmitted for a pulse that first becomes “1”. In addition, a pulse that becomes an interference signal may be transmitted only for a specific pulse, such as for the first two pulses, for the first two pulses. Alternatively, an H level (high level) waveform may be transmitted as an interference signal only when the request signal waveform first becomes L level (low level).

  In addition, when there are multiple transmitting antennas that should transmit jamming signals (when there are also transmitting antennas for the rear door, etc. as will be described later), these multiple transmitting antennas simultaneously transmit jamming signals. Instead, as described above, it is preferable to transmit the data while being dispersed in time. At the same time, if a disturbing signal is transmitted, the burden on the transmission circuit increases, but if the signal is distributed, the burden on the transmission circuit is reduced. For example, when a request signal first becomes “0”, a jamming signal (a signal consisting only of a pulse obtained by inverting a pulse that first becomes “0”) is transmitted from the first transmitting antenna, and the request signal When the signal becomes “0” for the second time, an interference signal (a signal consisting only of a pulse obtained by inverting the pulse for the second “0”) is transmitted from the second transmitting antenna, and so on. There may be a mode (see FIGS. 12 and 13) in which an interference signal obtained by inverting only some of the pulses is sequentially transmitted from each transmission antenna.

In addition, this invention (the remote control system for vehicles of this application) is not restricted to the form example mentioned above, There can be various deformation | transformation and application.
For example, the above embodiment is an example in which the operation intention detecting means and the corresponding transmitting antenna on the vehicle-mounted device side are provided in two places on the left and right, but the present invention can be applied to a system provided with three or more places. Good. As a specific example, operation intention detection means (sensors and switches) and a corresponding transmitting antenna on the vehicle-mounted device side are also installed on the rear door (rear seat door) or trunk side (rear side of the vehicle). When a trigger is generated due to the user approaching the rear side, in the system that automatically locks and unlocks or opens / closes the rear door or trunk as well as the left and right doors, if this rear trigger occurs, The request signal may be transmitted from the rear transmission antenna, and at the same time, the interference signal may be transmitted from the other transmission antennas (the right outside antenna and the left outside antenna). This eliminates the need for extra operations such as sending a separate request signal or prohibition signal from other antennas outside the vehicle cabin, while providing high crime prevention while reducing the delay time required for automatic unlocking operations such as rear doors. After all it can be remarkably shortened.

  Further, the interference signal may be transmitted not only from other antennas outside the vehicle interior, but also from vehicle interior antennas. If it does in this way, it can prevent with high reliability that the request signal from a vehicle exterior antenna is received by the portable machine in a vehicle interior. It should be noted that, even when an interference signal is transmitted from the vehicle interior antenna, it is desirable that the request signal is transmitted in a distributed manner during a part of the request signal.

For example, in the locking / unlocking operation of the above-described embodiment (smart entry system), an operation of separately transmitting a request signal from the vehicle interior antenna to communicate with the portable device may be omitted. This is because, depending on the specifications such as the position of the antenna outside the vehicle compartment, the transmission output of the interference signal, or the output of the interference signal from the vehicle interior antenna, a request from the vehicle exterior antenna may be required if the portable device is in the vehicle interior. There is a possibility that the signal can be designed so that it cannot be received normally anywhere in the vehicle interior. In this case, there is no need to send a separate request signal from the vehicle interior antenna to finally confirm whether the portable device is in the vehicle interior. Because.
If the separate communication operation from the vehicle interior antenna to the portable device can be omitted in this way, the time T4 in FIG. 1B can be further omitted, so that the basic operation time (simply transmitting the location where the trigger occurs) can be omitted. This is the time required for the basic operation of transmitting a request signal from the trusted antenna and executing a predetermined control process based on the answer signal from the portable device in response to this request signal. In FIG. The delay time can be remarkably shortened to the same extent as the sum of T5).

  The present invention is not limited to the smart entry system of the embodiment described above. For example, based on detection of an operation intention (generation of trigger input) such as the approach of a driver with a portable device or switch operation, the electric sliding door It can also be applied to systems that automatically open and close, systems that automatically start the engine of the vehicle and permission to start the engine (operation of the immobilizer), systems that automatically start the air conditioner of the vehicle, etc. Can do.

(Example of tire pressure monitoring system)
Next, an example of a tire pressure monitoring system will be described.
First, the first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a vehicle K1 equipped with the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) of this example, and FIG. 7B is a diagram for explaining the communicable area of the vehicle body side transmission antenna of this system. It is. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the vehicle body side controller.
In this case, the vehicle K1 is a four-wheeled vehicle, and as shown in FIG. 7A, as a component constituting the TPMS, a vehicle body side controller 31, vehicle body side transmission antennas 32A to 32D, and sensor units 33A to 33D are provided. Prepare.

The vehicle body side controller 31 is a TPMS controller provided in a predetermined control box in the vehicle body, and includes a control circuit composed of a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer), not shown, and a wireless signal communication circuit (LF). A wave transmission circuit and a UHF wave reception circuit) and a reception antenna (UHF wave reception antenna). The vehicle body side controller 31 periodically executes, for example, periodic tire pressure monitoring processing (details will be described later), for example, and when there is a tire whose air pressure is not within an appropriate range, for example, indicates the tire position and air pressure abnormality. Control processing as TPMS is performed such as executing control to output an alarm (alarm based on sound, light, or character display) to notify the driver.
Note that the control circuit of the vehicle body side controller 31 is activated only when the tire pressure monitoring is required (for example, when the engine is operating, for example), so that power consumption is minimized. .

  Next, the vehicle body side transmitting antennas 32 </ b> A to 32 </ b> D are provided at positions near the tires (for example, positions near the tire house of the tires), and are controlled by the vehicle body side controller 31 with respect to the sensor units 33 </ b> A to 33 </ b> D of the tires. This is for transmitting a request signal (LF wave).

Next, the sensor units 33 </ b> A to 33 </ b> D are provided in each tire, and a control circuit (not shown) (for example, a microcomputer), a tire air pressure sensor that measures the air pressure of each tire, and an air pressure measured by the sensor are provided. A transmission circuit and a transmission antenna for wirelessly transmitting data as an answer signal (UHF wave), and a reception circuit and a reception antenna for receiving the request signal are provided.
Here, the control circuits of the sensor units 33A to 33D are normally in a standby state that is a power saving mode, and operate by appropriately switching from the standby state to a normal mode (a startup state that is not a standby state). It has a configuration.

  That is, for example, when a signal (pre-demodulation) with a specified frequency corresponding to the request signal is received, the signal shifts to the normal mode and the reception process of this signal is executed. To do. Specifically, the received signal (binary data sequence after demodulation) is analyzed, and the same data as the vehicle body-specific ID code stored in advance is included in a predetermined portion (for example, the ID portion) of the received signal. If it is affirmative, it is determined that it is a regular request signal.

  And if it determines with it being a regular request signal by the said determination process, the answer signal containing the newest pneumatic pressure data of the said ID code and the mounted tire will be transmitted a predetermined number of times. Further, when it is not determined that the request signal is a legitimate request signal in the determination process, and after the transmission of the answer signal is finished, the state returns to the standby state and waits for a signal input again.

Next, an example of the air pressure monitoring process of the vehicle body side controller 31 will be described with reference to FIG.
After being activated, the control circuit of the vehicle body side controller 31 executes the air pressure monitoring process shown in FIG. 8 for each tire.
In the air pressure monitoring process, first, in step S21, it is determined whether or not it is a predetermined detection timing. This detection timing means a timing at which the air pressure of the tire to be detected should be read and confirmed. For example, when the air pressure is sequentially checked, such as the front left tire, then the front right tire, then the rear left tire, and then the rear right tire, it is the timing when the order of the tires to be detected has come.
And if it is a detection timing, it will progress to step S22, and if it is not a detection timing, a process will be complete | finished.

Next, in step S22, a prescribed request signal is transmitted from the vehicle-side transmitting antenna for the tire to be detected, and at the same time, an inverted signal (interference) is transmitted from another vehicle-side transmitting antenna (at least the vehicle-side transmitting antenna on the opposite side in the left-right direction). Signal).
For example, when the detection target is a front left tire, a request signal of regular data is transmitted from the vehicle body side transmission antenna 32A, and at the same time, other vehicle body side transmission antennas 32B to 32D (at least the vehicle body on the opposite side in the left-right direction). From the side transmitting antenna 32B), an inverted signal as an interference signal is transmitted.
Note that the inverted signal as the interference signal may be transmitted in the entire time zone in which the request signal is transmitted, but may be transmitted simultaneously in at least a part of the time zone in which the request signal is transmitted. . This is because it can be prevented from being received as a regular request signal even during a certain period.

Here, the inverted signal is a signal obtained by inverting the pulse train (digital signal) at the time of modulation with respect to the regular request signal, as in the first embodiment (FIG. 2) of the vehicle remote control device. For example, as shown in the third to fifth stages from the top in FIG. 10, all the pulses of the request signal (second stage from the top in FIG. 10) are inverted.
The transmission output of the inverted signal may be set basically equal to the regular request signal, but the purpose (blocking reception of the request signal by the sensor unit of another tire) is more accurately achieved with the minimum necessary output. From the viewpoint of achieving it, the transmission output may be different from the regular request signal.

  Next, after passing through step S22, in step S23, it is determined whether a regular answer signal is received during a predetermined reception waiting time. Specifically, it is determined whether or not a signal including a code that matches a vehicle body-specific ID code stored in advance at a predetermined location is received via the receiving antenna. If such a normal answer signal is received during a predetermined reception waiting time, the process proceeds to the next step S24, and if the reception waiting time has elapsed without receiving the normal answer signal, a step is performed. Proceed to S25 and output an alarm just in case.

Next, in step S24, the measurement data of the air pressure included in the received answer signal is read, and it is determined whether or not the measurement data is normal (for example, whether or not the air pressure is in an appropriate range). If it is normal, the process ends. If it is not normal, the process proceeds to step S25.
In step S25, control is performed to output an alarm (alarm by sound, light, or character display) indicating that the tire to be detected is abnormal in air pressure, and the process ends.
In addition, when a legitimate answer signal cannot be received in step S23, the process proceeds to a step different from step S25, and another indicating that an abnormality that cannot communicate with the sensor unit of the tire to be detected has occurred. May be output.

  According to the air pressure monitoring process described above, the request signal and the answer signal are transmitted and received between the sensor unit of each tire and the vehicle body side controller 31 at a predetermined detection timing, and the vehicle body side controller 31 cannot receive the answer signal. If the air pressure measurement data included in the received answer signal is abnormal, an alarm is output and the function as TPMS is realized.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, when a request signal is transmitted from the vehicle-side transmitting antenna at a specific location, an interference signal (for example, the inverted signal) that prevents reception of the request signal is present at a location other than the specific location. It is transmitted simultaneously with this request signal from the arranged vehicle-side transmission antenna. For this reason, in the sensor units of the tires other than the corresponding portions, the request signal is not normally received and the answer signal is not reliably returned.
This is because the request signal is not properly received in the sensor unit of the tire other than the tire at the corresponding location (for example, the front left tire) (for example, the sensor unit of the front right tire) (in this case, for example, at the bottom of FIG. 10). As shown, a signal in which the data is inverted with respect to the regular request signal is received), and the answer signal is not returned. In addition, the tire sensor unit at the corresponding location (for example, the front left side) receives a signal as shown in the second row from the bottom of FIG. 10 and can normally receive a normal request signal. This is because the interference signal transmitted from the other part is sufficiently attenuated at the corresponding part and does not affect the reception of the regular request signal.

  Therefore, according to the tire pressure monitoring system of the present example, it is possible to eliminate the above-described possibility of the occurrence of the trouble that the communication is complicated. In other words, the special process described above (for example, a process for setting a unique identification code for each tire and checking the identification code in the sensor unit) becomes unnecessary. As a result, for example, responsiveness is improved (delay time required for tire pressure monitoring is shortened), sensor unit settings are not different for each tire, and sensor unit management and workability during assembly are improved. The advantage that can be secured high is obtained.

  In addition, if the communicable area of each vehicle body side transmission antenna can be set reliably and stably as shown in FIG. 7B, for example, only the corresponding tire sensor unit can communicate with each vehicle body side transmission antenna. Since it exists in an area, even if it does not transmit a disturbance signal as mentioned above, it can be made to reply only to the sensor unit of a corresponding tire. However, in practice, such a setting is often difficult, and as described above, there is a problem that communication is mixed (for example, the request signal output from the front left antenna 32A to the front left sensor unit 33A is This is also received by the front right sensor unit 33B, and an answer signal is returned from the sensor unit 33B. And according to the tire pressure monitoring system of this example, this problem can be solved without adverse effects such as a decrease in responsiveness.

Next, a second embodiment of the tire pressure monitoring system will be described with reference to FIGS.
As described above, the disturbing signal may be transmitted during at least a part of the time zone in which the request signal is transmitted, and it is desirable that the disturbing signal be distributed in time. The second embodiment has such characteristics. In this case, as shown in FIG. 13, the request signal (second stage from the top in FIG. 13) is transmitted from the vehicle-side transmitting antenna arranged at a specific location (for example, the front left side). From the first vehicle-side transmitting antenna other than the location (for example, the front-right vehicle-side transmitting antenna), only the first pulse with data “0” in the pulse train of the request signal is an interference signal. Is output, and no signal is output for other pulses. In addition, from the second vehicle-side transmitting antenna (for example, the rear left-side vehicle-side transmitting antenna) other than the specific location, the second pulse whose data is “0” in the pulse train of the request signal. Output a disturbing signal only, and no signal for other pulses. In addition, from the third vehicle-side transmitting antenna other than the specific location (for example, the rear-right vehicle-side transmitting antenna), the third pulse whose data is “0” in the pulse train of the request signal Output a disturbing signal only, and no signal for other pulses. In other words, a disturbing signal that is just a part of the pulse train of the request signal (pulse that becomes “0”) is sequentially dispersed from each vehicle-side transmitting antenna other than a specific location in time. Output.

  In this way, as shown in FIG. 12, the interference signal is transmitted only in a short period of the time zone in which the request signal is transmitted, and there are a plurality of interference signals on the vehicle body side transmitting antenna ( Since transmission is not performed simultaneously from each vehicle-side transmission antenna other than the specific location, the burden on the transmission circuit can be reduced. In particular, in the case of this example, as can be seen from FIG. 13, the number of antennas (the number of tires) that substantially transmit electromagnetic waves (H level waveform) at the same time, including both the regular request signal and the interference signal. Is always 1 or less, and the burden on the transmission circuit becomes very light.

  In the second embodiment, the interference signal is sequentially transmitted from each antenna with respect to the pulse of “0”. However, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to such a mode. For example, an interference signal may be sequentially transmitted from each antenna with respect to a pulse of “1”. An inverted signal is transmitted from the first vehicle-side transmitting antenna other than the specific location for the first pulse, and from the second vehicle-side transmitting antenna other than the specific location for the second pulse. For example, an inverted signal (interference signal) for one pulse may be sequentially transmitted from each antenna for each pulse, such as transmitting an inverted signal. In addition, when the waveform of the request signal becomes L level (low level), an H level (high level) waveform may be sequentially transmitted from each antenna as an interference signal.

In addition, this invention (tire pressure monitoring system of this application) is not restricted to the example mentioned above, There can be various deformation | transformation and application.
For example, the vehicle body side transmission antenna and the tire do not necessarily have a one-to-one correspondence. For example, the present invention is also applied to a system in which one vehicle-side transmission antenna is installed for the right and left front-wheel tires, and one vehicle-side transmission antenna is installed for the left and front-wheel tires. Is possible.
Further, it is not always necessary to transmit the jamming signal from all other vehicle body side transmitting antennas that do not transmit a regular request signal. It is not necessary to transmit a jamming signal to the vehicle body side transmission antenna at a location where there is no possibility that the above-described communication crossing will occur.

It is a figure explaining schematic structure and operation of a smart entry system for vehicles. It is a figure explaining the transmission waveform and reception waveform of the signal transmitted from a vehicle interior antenna. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of a portable device. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of a vehicle equipment. It is a figure explaining the communicable area etc. of a vehicle interior antenna. It is a figure explaining the smart entry system for conventional vehicles. It is a figure explaining the structure etc. of a tire pressure monitoring system. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of a vehicle body side controller. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of a tire pressure monitoring system. It is a figure explaining the transmission waveform and reception waveform of the signal transmitted from the vehicle body side transmission antenna of a tire pressure monitoring system. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement of the smart entry system for vehicles (2nd form example), and the transmission waveform and reception waveform of the signal transmitted from a vehicle interior antenna. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of a tire pressure monitoring system (2nd form example). It is a figure explaining the transmission waveform and reception waveform of the signal transmitted from the vehicle body side transmission antenna of a tire pressure monitoring system (2nd form example).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 10 Portable machine 20 Car-mounted machine 22 Car interior front antenna (transmitting antenna)
23 Car interior rear antenna (transmitting antenna)
24 Left antenna outside the passenger compartment (transmitting antenna)
25 Outside right passenger compartment antenna (transmitting antenna)
31 Car body side controllers 32A to 32D Car body side transmitting antennas 33A to 33D Sensor unit

Claims (7)

A portable device that can be carried by a user and an in-vehicle device that performs two-way wireless communication between the portable device and the portable device via transmission antennas installed in a plurality of locations of the vehicle An in-vehicle device capable of transmitting a radio signal, and an operation intention detection means for detecting an operation intention of a user who is installed at a plurality of locations of a vehicle corresponding to the arrangement position of the transmitting antenna and approaches the corresponding location, A predetermined request signal is sent from the in-vehicle device to the portable device via a transmission antenna arranged at a corresponding location of the vehicle, triggered by the detection of the user's operation intention by the operation intention detection means. The vehicle remote controller in which the in-vehicle device executes a predetermined processing operation based on a reception result in the in-vehicle device for the answer signal transmitted and transmitted from the portable device in response to the request signal. A roll system,
The in-vehicle device is
When transmitting the request signal from the transmitting antenna at the corresponding location where the trigger has occurred, the request signal is transmitted from the transmitting antenna disposed at a location other than the corresponding location to prevent the reception of the request signal. A vehicle remote control system characterized by transmitting simultaneously during at least a part of a given time zone. The vehicle remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the disturbing signal is transmitted in a time-dispersed manner from each transmitting antenna arranged at a location other than the corresponding location. The request signal is a digital radio system signal that is transmitted by modulating a carrier wave with a pulse train corresponding to digital data, and the interference signal is an inverted signal obtained by inverting a pulse train at the time of modulation with respect to the request signal. The vehicle remote control system according to claim 1 or 2. The processing operation is a control process related to locking / unlocking / opening / closing of a door or trunk of the vehicle, and the transmitting antenna and the operation intention detecting means are arranged on the left and right sides or the rear side of the vehicle provided with the vehicle door or trunk. 4. The vehicle remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle remote control system is installed and the operation intention is an operation intention related to locking / unlocking / opening / closing of a door or a trunk of the vehicle. For each specific tire of the vehicle, a vehicle body side controller capable of transmitting a radio signal via a vehicle body side transmitting antenna provided near the tire, and a tire side of the vehicle are provided to measure the air pressure of each tire. And a sensor unit capable of transmitting the measurement result as a radio signal, and the vehicle body side controller transmits a request signal to the corresponding tire sensor unit from the vehicle body side transmission antenna at a specific location at a predetermined timing, The tire pressure monitoring system in which the sensor unit that has received this transmits an answer signal including the measurement result to the vehicle body controller,
The vehicle body side controller
When transmitting the request signal from the vehicle-side transmitting antenna at a specific location, the request signal is transmitted from the vehicle-side transmitting antenna disposed at a location other than the specific location, to prevent the reception of the request signal. A tire pressure monitoring system that transmits simultaneously during at least a part of a period of time. 6. The tire pressure monitoring system according to claim 5, wherein the disturbing signal is transmitted in a time-dispersed manner from each vehicle-side transmitting antenna disposed outside the specific location. The request signal is a digital radio system signal that is transmitted by modulating a carrier wave with a pulse train corresponding to digital data, and the interference signal is an inverted signal obtained by inverting a pulse train at the time of modulation with respect to the request signal. The tire pressure monitoring system according to claim 5 or 6.

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