JP2008176370A - Communication equipment for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly relay information received from the outside of its own vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: When a relative distance between transmission origin and its own vehicle is a determination threshold or more as a result of a relay determination part 29 between the time when receiving reception data and the time a prescribed time has passed, or when the own vehicle is at a prescribed position (for example, in intersection or the like) as the result of an own-vehicle location determination part 27, an information control part 21 substitutes the location information relating to the location of the transmission origin added to the reception data stored in a reception information storage part 22 when received with location information relating to the current location of the own vehicle to be input from the location information addition part 30, and transmits the reception data with the substituted location information through a communication part 11 to the outside of the own vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle communication device.

Conventionally, for example, when emergency information is received from another vehicle by inter-vehicle communication, if the communication to the base station for wireless communication is possible, the received emergency information is transmitted to the base station for wireless communication. There is known a notification system that transmits received emergency information to another vehicle if communication with a base station is impossible (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-6-36185

However, according to the notification system according to the above prior art example, for every vehicle that has received emergency information from another vehicle, if the received information is transmitted to the base station or relayed to another vehicle, for example, duplicate information There is a risk that congestion will occur in the communication network due to the transmission of.
In addition, in order to improve communication efficiency by setting an information transmission path based on the relative positions of a plurality of vehicles, for example, the relative positions of the vehicles frequently change. Then, the process for setting the information transmission path becomes complicated, causing a problem that a delay occurs in the information transmission.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle communication device capable of appropriately relaying information received from the outside of the host vehicle.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the vehicle communication apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a transmission unit (for example, the communication unit 11 in the embodiment) that transmits information to the outside of the host vehicle. ), Receiving means for receiving information from a transmission source outside the own vehicle (for example, the communication unit 11 in the embodiment), and own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the position of the own vehicle (for example, in the embodiment) Vehicle position sensor 12 and navigation device 14) and own vehicle position information adding means for adding information on the position of the own vehicle detected by the own vehicle position detecting means to information transmitted to the outside by the transmitting means ( For example, the information control unit 21 and the position information adding unit 30) according to the embodiment and the information received by the receiving unit from the transmission source and the information on the position of the own vehicle are added by the own vehicle position information adding unit. Affection Is relayed to the outside by the transmission means (for example, the information control unit 21 in the embodiment), and the transmission source position detection means (detecting the position of the transmission source from the information received by the reception means) For example, based on the transmission source position detection unit 23) in the embodiment, the position of the own vehicle detected by the own vehicle position detection means, and the position of the transmission source detected by the transmission source position detection means. Based on the relative distance detection means (for example, the relative distance detection unit 26 in the embodiment) for detecting the relative distance between the host vehicle and the transmission source, and the relative distance detected by the relative distance detection means, A relay determination unit that determines whether or not to perform the relay by the relay unit (for example, the relay determination unit 29 in the embodiment), and the relay determination unit is configured so that the relative distance is not a predetermined determination threshold value. If it is prohibits execution of the relay by the relay means.

  Furthermore, in the vehicle communication device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the relay determination unit changes the determination threshold according to the electric field strength of the signal received from the transmission source by the reception unit.

  Furthermore, in the vehicle communication device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the relay determination unit responds to a data loss rate at the time of transmission / reception of a signal transmitted from the transmission source and received by the reception unit. To change.

  Furthermore, the vehicle communication device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention includes a storage unit (for example, the reception information storage unit 22 in the embodiment) that stores the information received by the reception unit over a predetermined time. The relative distance detecting means detects the relative distance based on the position of the own vehicle detected by the own vehicle position detecting means over the predetermined time, and the relay determining means determines that the relative distance is equal to the predetermined time. The relay is prohibited from being executed by the relay means when the threshold is less than the determination threshold.

  Furthermore, the vehicle communication device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention includes storage means (for example, the reception information storage unit 22 in the embodiment) that stores the information received by the reception means over a predetermined time. The relay determination unit is configured to detect the position of the host vehicle detected by the host vehicle position detection unit within the predetermined time even when the relative distance is less than the determination threshold. The execution of the relay by the relay means is permitted.

  As described above, according to the vehicle communication device according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the relative distance between the host vehicle and the transmission source is less than the predetermined determination threshold, the information received from the transmission source. Prohibiting the execution of the operation of relaying the vehicle to the outside of the host vehicle (for example, other vehicles or information destinations), the excessive relay operation is executed from a plurality of vehicles that have received information from the transmission source. And the occurrence of congestion in the communication network can be suppressed.

Furthermore, according to the vehicle communication device according to the second aspect of the present invention, for example, as the electric field strength of the signal received by the receiving means decreases, the predetermined determination threshold for the relative distance changes so as to decrease. By setting to, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the relay operation is necessary.
Furthermore, according to the vehicle communication device of the third aspect of the present invention, for example, the predetermined determination threshold for the relative distance increases with an increase in the data loss rate of the signal transmitted from the transmission source and received by the reception unit. Is set to change in a decreasing tendency, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not to perform the relay operation.

Furthermore, according to the vehicle communication device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, for example, when the information is received from the transmission source, even if the relative distance is less than a predetermined determination threshold, the relative distance is predetermined within a predetermined time. When the determination threshold value is exceeded, by permitting execution of the relay operation, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the relay operation is to be executed.
Further, according to the vehicle communication device of the fifth aspect of the present invention, for example, when the information is received from the transmission source, even if the relative distance is less than the predetermined determination threshold, the position of the host vehicle is within the predetermined time. When the position is within an appropriate intersection, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not to execute the relay operation by permitting the execution of the relay operation.

Hereinafter, a vehicle communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the vehicle communication device 10 according to this embodiment includes a communication unit 11, a camera 13, a vehicle state sensor 12, a navigation device 14, and a processing device 15. Yes.

The communication unit 11 transmits and receives various kinds of information by inter-vehicle communication with other vehicles or communication with a base station or relay station for wireless communication outside the host vehicle.
The vehicle state sensor 12 is, for example, a vehicle speed sensor that detects the speed (vehicle speed) of the host vehicle as vehicle information of the host vehicle, or a vehicle position sensor (for example, latitude and longitude) using, for example, an artificial satellite. Positioning signals such as GPS (Global Positioning System) signals, position signals transmitted from information transmission devices outside the host vehicle, and the current position of the host vehicle based on detection results from an appropriate gyro sensor, acceleration sensor, etc. And a position sensor for detecting the traveling direction, a yaw angle (rotational angle about the vertical axis of the vehicle center of gravity) and a yaw rate (rotational angular velocity about the vertical axis of the vehicle center of gravity), a steering angle (driver) Is provided with a steering angle sensor or the like that detects an actual steering angle (steering angle) corresponding to the steering angle.

The camera 13 is, for example, a CCD camera or a CMOS camera, and outputs a captured image of the outside world around the host vehicle.
The navigation device 14 stores road data such as road width data, intersection angles of multiple roads, intersection shapes and positions, and the like as map data for displaying a map on a display screen of a display device (not shown). Then, map matching based on the current position of the vehicle detected by the vehicle state sensor 12 is performed on the road data, the display position of the current position of the vehicle on the display screen is corrected, and the current position of the detected vehicle is detected. The map display on the display screen is controlled with respect to the position or an appropriate vehicle position input by the operator via various switches, a keyboard, and the like.
In addition, the navigation device 14 performs a route search calculation process based on an appropriate destination and waypoint input from an operator via various switches, a keyboard, or the like, or an appropriate destination and waypoint output from the processing device 15. And the route information to the destination and waypoints and various additional information are displayed on the display screen together with the road data, and various voice messages are output from a speaker (not shown) to guide the route.

  The processing device 15 includes, for example, an image processing unit 20, an information control unit 21, a reception information storage unit 22, a transmission source position detection unit 23, a communication state detection unit 24, a host vehicle position detection unit 25, and a relative distance. The detection unit 26 includes a vehicle position determination unit 27, a determination threshold setting unit 28, a relay determination unit 29, and a position information addition unit 30.

  The image processing unit 20 performs predetermined image processing such as filtering and binarization processing on the captured image obtained by the imaging of the camera 13 to generate image data including pixels of a two-dimensional array to obtain information. Output to the control unit 21.

The information control unit 21 responds to an appropriate data transmission request output from another control device or the like, for example, the vehicle information of the host vehicle detected by the vehicle state sensor 12 and the image data obtained by photographing by the camera 13. The position information related to the current position of the host vehicle input from the position information adding unit 30 to be described later is added to the various information and transmitted to the outside of the host vehicle via the communication unit 11.
Also, the information control unit 21 receives appropriate information through inter-vehicle communication with another vehicle or communication with a base station or relay station for wireless communication outside the host vehicle via the communication unit 11. First, it is determined whether or not the destination of the received data is limited to the own vehicle.
If the determination result is “NO”, that is, if a base station for wireless communication outside the other vehicle or the host vehicle is set as the destination of the reception data, the reception data is received as reception information. The data is stored in the storage unit 22 and output to the transmission source position detection unit 23 and the communication state detection unit 24. If the host vehicle is set as the destination of the received data, processing such as analysis of the received data is performed.

  When the information control unit 21 relays received data according to a determination result input from a relay determination unit 29 described later, the position information related to the position of the transmission source added to the received data Is replaced by position information relating to the current position of the host vehicle input from the position information adding unit 30 described later, and transmitted to the outside of the host vehicle via the communication unit 11.

The transmission source position detection unit 23 detects the position of the transmission source based on the position information related to the position of the transmission source added to the reception data received via the communication unit 11, and detects the detection result as a relative distance detection. To the unit 26.
The communication state detection unit 24 detects a state quantity related to a communication state of received data received via the communication unit 11, such as a reception time, a received electric field strength, a data loss rate (for example, packet loss in packet communication), and the like. And output to the determination threshold value setting unit 28.

The own vehicle position detection unit 25 acquires information related to the current position of the own vehicle from the navigation device 14 and outputs the information to the relative distance detection unit 26, the own vehicle position determination unit 27, and the position information addition unit 30.
The relative distance detection unit 26 is based on the transmission source position of the reception data input from the transmission source position detection unit 23 and the current position of the host vehicle input from the host vehicle position detection unit 25. And the detection result is output to the relay determination unit 29.

The own vehicle position determination unit 27 determines whether or not the current position of the own vehicle is a predetermined position (for example, a position in an intersection) based on the information related to the current position of the own vehicle input from the own vehicle position detection unit 25. The determination result is output to the relay determination unit 29.
The determination threshold setting unit 28 sets a determination threshold for the relative distance in the determination processing in the relay determination unit 29 according to the state quantity related to the communication state of the received data input from the communication state detection unit 24, and the relay determination unit 29.
For example, the determination threshold value setting unit 28 sets the determination threshold value so as to change in a decreasing trend as the received electric field strength decreases or as the data loss rate increases.
In addition, the determination threshold setting unit 28 may change the determination threshold according to the determination result in the vehicle position determination unit 27.

The relay determination unit 29 determines whether or not the relative distance between the transmission source input from the relative distance detection unit 26 and the host vehicle is greater than or equal to the determination threshold value input from the determination threshold value setting unit 28, and the determination result is determined. Output to the information control unit 21.
The position information adding unit 30 generates position information related to the current position of the host vehicle that is added to transmission data transmitted to the outside of the host vehicle via the communication unit 11 and outputs the position information to the information control unit 21.

Then, when the relative distance between the transmission source and the host vehicle is greater than or equal to the determination threshold in the determination result by the relay determination unit 29 between the reception time of the received data and the time after the elapse of a predetermined time, the information control unit 21 Alternatively, when the current position of the host vehicle is a predetermined position (for example, a position in an intersection) in the determination result by the host vehicle position determination unit 27, the received data is added to the reception data stored in the reception information storage unit 22. The position information related to the position of the transmission source is replaced with the position information related to the current position of the host vehicle input from the position information adding unit 30, and the received data after the replacement of the position information is transmitted to the host vehicle via the communication unit 11. Send to outside.
On the other hand, the relative distance between the transmission source and the host vehicle is less than the determination threshold between the reception time of the received data and the time after the elapse of a predetermined time, and the current position of the host vehicle is a predetermined position (for example, within an intersection If it is not, the transfer of the received data is prohibited, and the received data stored in the received information storage unit 22 is discarded.

That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the transmission data transmitted from an appropriate transmission source is added with position information of the position S of the transmission source, and a plurality of pieces of data existing within the communication range of the transmission source are added. When the transmission data from the transmission source is received in the vehicle, that is, the own vehicle (position A) and the other vehicle (position B), the relative distance to the transmission source is less than the determination threshold value X in the other vehicle (position B). The transfer of the received transmission data is prohibited, and the transfer of the received transmission data is permitted in the host vehicle (position A) whose relative distance to the transmission source is equal to or greater than the determination threshold value X.
Then, the host vehicle (position A) replaces the position information of the transmission source (position S) added to the received transmission data with the position information of the current position of the host vehicle (position A), and after this position information replacement Is transmitted outside the vehicle amount (position A).

The vehicle communication device 10 according to the present embodiment has the above-described configuration. Next, the operation of the vehicle communication device 10 will be described.
First, for example, in step S01 shown in FIG. 3, data is transmitted via the communication unit 11 by inter-vehicle communication with another vehicle or communication with a base station or relay station for wireless communication outside the host vehicle. It is determined whether or not it has been received.
If this determination is “YES”, the flow proceeds to step S 05 described later.
On the other hand, if this determination is “NO”, the flow proceeds to step S 02.

In step S02, it is determined whether there is an appropriate data transmission request output from another control device or the like.
When the determination result is “NO”, the series of processes is terminated.
On the other hand, if the determination is “YES”, the flow proceeds to step S03.
In step S03, the current position of the host vehicle is acquired.
In step S04, the position information related to the current position of the host vehicle is added to the transmission data, transmitted via the communication unit 11, and the series of processes ends.

In step S05, it is determined whether or not the destination of the received data is limited to only the host vehicle.
If this determination is “YES”, the flow proceeds to step S 06, processing such as analysis of received data is performed, and the series of processing is terminated.
On the other hand, if this determination is “NO”, the flow proceeds to step S 07.
In step S07, the timer starts counting.
In step S08, a state quantity related to the communication state of the received data, such as the received electric field strength and the data missing rate, is acquired.

In step S09, a determination threshold for the relative distance is set according to the state quantity related to the communication state of the received data.
In step S10, the position of the transmission source is acquired based on the position information related to the position of the transmission source added to the received data.
In step S11, the current position of the host vehicle is acquired.
In step S12, the relative distance between the transmission source position and the current position of the host vehicle is calculated.

In step S13, it is determined whether or not the relative distance between the transmission source position and the current position of the host vehicle is equal to or greater than a determination threshold value.
If this determination is “NO”, the flow proceeds to step S 17 described later.
On the other hand, if the determination is “YES”, the flow proceeds to step S14.
In step S14, the position information related to the position of the transmission source added to the received data is replaced with the position information related to the current position of the host vehicle.
In step S15, the received data after the position information replacement is transferred to the outside of the host vehicle.
In step S16, the timer value measured by the timer is initialized, and the series of processes is terminated.

In step S17, it is determined whether the timer value measured by the timer is equal to or shorter than a predetermined time.
If this determination is “YES”, the flow proceeds to step S18.
On the other hand, if this determination is “NO”, the flow proceeds to step S 19.
In step S18, it is determined whether or not the current position of the host vehicle is a position within the intersection.
If this determination is “NO”, the flow returns to step S 11 described above.
On the other hand, if this determination is “YES”, the flow proceeds to step S 14 described above.
In step S19, the received data is discarded, and the process proceeds to step S16 described above.

As described above, according to the vehicle communication device 10 of the present embodiment, the relative distance between the own vehicle and the transmission source is less than the predetermined determination threshold between the reception time and the time after the predetermined time has elapsed. In this case, since the operation of relaying the information received from the transmission source to the outside of the own vehicle (for example, the destination of the information of other vehicles, base stations, etc.) is prohibited, the transmission is performed, for example, at the time of traffic jams. When there are multiple vehicles in the original communication range, etc., it is possible to prevent excessive relay operations from being executed from the plurality of vehicles that have received information from this transmission source, and to prevent congestion within the communication network. Occurrence can be suppressed.
In addition, the relay operation can be performed by setting the judgment threshold for the relative distance to decrease as the received electric field strength of the received data decreases or the data missing rate of the received data increases. It is possible to appropriately determine whether or not execution is necessary.
In addition, when the position of the host vehicle is within the intersection between the reception time and the time after the elapse of a predetermined time, the execution of the relay operation is appropriately determined by permitting the execution of the relay operation. Can be determined.

  In the embodiment described above, the determination process according to the timer value of the timer may be omitted. That is, when the relative distance between the transmission source and the host vehicle is equal to or greater than the determination threshold at the reception time of the received data, or when the current position of the host vehicle is a predetermined position (for example, a position in an intersection), When transfer of received data is permitted, and the relative distance between the transmission source and the host vehicle is less than the determination threshold at the reception time, and the current position of the host vehicle is not a predetermined position (for example, a position in an intersection), Transfer of received data may be prohibited.

It is a block diagram of the communication apparatus of the vehicle which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the relative position of a transmission source, the own vehicle, and another vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the communication apparatus of the vehicle which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle communication apparatus 11 Communication part (transmission means, reception means)
12 Vehicle state sensor (own vehicle position detection means)
14 Navigation device (vehicle position detection means)
21 Information control unit (own vehicle position information adding means, relay means)
22 Reception information storage unit (storage means)
23 transmission source position detection unit (transmission source position detection means)
26 Relative distance detector (relative distance detector)
29 Relay determination unit (relay determination means)
30 Position information adding unit (own vehicle position information adding means)

Claims (5)

Transmitting means for transmitting information to the outside of the own vehicle; receiving means for receiving information from a transmission source outside the own vehicle;
Own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the position of the own vehicle;
Own vehicle position information adding means for adding information on the position of the own vehicle detected by the own vehicle position detecting means to information transmitted to the outside by the transmitting means;
Relay means for relaying the information received by the receiving means from the transmission source and having the position information of the own vehicle added thereto by the own vehicle position information adding means;
Transmission source position detection means for detecting the position of the transmission source from the information received by the reception means;
A relative distance for detecting a relative distance between the vehicle and the transmission source based on the position of the vehicle detected by the vehicle position detection unit and the position of the transmission source detected by the transmission source position detection unit. Detection means;
Relay determination means for determining whether to execute the relay by the relay means based on the relative distance detected by the relative distance detection means,
The relay determination unit prohibits execution of the relay by the relay unit when the relative distance is less than a predetermined determination threshold. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1, wherein the relay determination unit changes the determination threshold according to an electric field strength of a signal received from the transmission source by the reception unit. 3. The relay determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the relay determination unit changes the determination threshold according to a data loss rate at the time of transmission / reception of a signal transmitted from the transmission source and received by the reception unit. The vehicle communication device described. Storage means for storing the information received by the receiving means for a predetermined time;
The relative distance detection means detects the relative distance based on the position of the host vehicle detected by the host vehicle position detection means over the predetermined time;
4. The relay determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the relay determination unit prohibits execution of the relay by the relay unit when the relative distance is less than the determination threshold for the predetermined time. The vehicle communication device as described in one. Storage means for storing the information received by the receiving means for a predetermined time;
The relay determination unit is configured to relay the relay if the position of the host vehicle detected by the host vehicle position detection unit within the predetermined time becomes a position within an appropriate intersection even if the relative distance is less than the determination threshold. 5. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1, wherein execution of the relay by a means is permitted.

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