JP2009111689A - Onboard packet information transmission apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow another designated vehicle relay unit to perform relay transmission of packet information in a packet information transmission apparatus to be mounted on a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: When transmitting packet information, an onboard communication apparatus designates an onboard communication apparatus on another vehicle allowed to perform relay transmission as a relay device. Then, packet information containing identification information of the designated onboard communication apparatus is transmitted. The onboard communication apparatus which receives the packet information, on the other vehicle acquires information subjected to transmission from the packet information and performs relay transmission of the packet information when the apparatus is designated as a relay device. The onboard communication apparatus designates as a relay vehicle, another vehicle having a largest angle of elevation watching a packet communication antenna 10 from an own vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle packet information transmission device that relays packet information to an on-vehicle relay device of another vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art An in-vehicle communication system in which a wireless communication device is mounted on each vehicle traveling on a road and each vehicle provides position information, speed information, and the like by wireless communication is widely known. In such an in-vehicle communication system, packet communication is performed using an in-vehicle communication device mounted on each vehicle as a relay device. The in-vehicle communication device that is the transmission source of the packet information transmits the packet information to another in-vehicle communication device. In addition, the in-vehicle communication device that has received the packet information extracts information included in the received packet information for use by the passenger, and relays and transmits the packet information to other in-vehicle communication devices. Such relay transmission can provide information to a large number of vehicles.

JP 2006-325019 A

  However, in such an in-vehicle communication system, when relay transmission is performed by an unspecified in-vehicle communication device, packet information having overlapping information contents is relayed and transmitted multiple times by the same in-vehicle communication device. There is a possibility that the amount of information to be processed exceeds the processing capacity.

  The present invention has been made for such a problem. That is, an object of the present invention is to allow a designated other vehicle relay device to perform relay transmission of packet information in a packet information transmission device mounted on a vehicle.

  The present invention is an in-vehicle packet information transmitting device that is mounted on a host vehicle and transmits packet information, the host vehicle positioning unit that measures the position of the host vehicle, an identification code of the other vehicle, and position information of the other vehicle. An other vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires height information of an antenna mounted on the other vehicle, an elevation angle when the antenna position of the other vehicle is viewed from the own vehicle, and a measurement result of the own vehicle positioning unit, and An other vehicle elevation angle obtaining unit that is obtained based on information obtained by the other vehicle information obtaining unit, and a relay vehicle that causes the onboard relay device to relay and transmit the packet information are selected from the plurality of other vehicles. A relay vehicle selection unit that selects based on the elevation angle obtained by the acquisition unit, and a transmission unit that transmits the packet information including the identification code of the other vehicle selected by the relay vehicle selection unit, the packet Affection The mounting relay device of the other vehicle identification code is assigned included in, characterized in that to relay transmits the packet information.

  Further, the present invention provides an in-vehicle packet information transmitting device that is mounted on a host vehicle and transmits packet information, the host vehicle positioning unit that measures the position of the host vehicle, an identification code of the other vehicle, An other vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires position information and vehicle height information of the other vehicle, an elevation angle when the vehicle height measurement reference point of the other vehicle is viewed from the own vehicle, and a measurement result of the own vehicle positioning unit and An other vehicle elevation angle obtaining unit that is obtained based on information obtained by the other vehicle information obtaining unit, and a relay vehicle that causes the onboard relay device to relay and transmit the packet information are selected from the plurality of other vehicles. A relay vehicle selection unit that selects based on an elevation angle obtained by the acquisition unit; and a transmission unit that transmits the packet information including an identification code of another vehicle selected by the relay vehicle selection unit, the packet information The knowledge contained in The mounting relay device of the other vehicle sign is assigned, characterized in that to relay transmits the packet information.

  Further, in the in-vehicle packet information transmitting apparatus according to the present invention, the other vehicle information acquisition is performed to determine in which area the other vehicle exists among a plurality of relay areas divided according to the direction viewed from the own vehicle. It is preferable that the relay vehicle selection unit selects the relay vehicle for each relay division area based on the determination result of the area determination unit based on the determination result of the area determination unit. It is.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to cause a designated other vehicle relay device to perform relay transmission of packet information.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an in-vehicle communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A plurality of in-vehicle communication devices constitute an in-vehicle communication system. Each in-vehicle communication device of the in-vehicle communication system broadcasts and transmits packet information including information such as the position and speed of the mounted vehicle. The in-vehicle communication device that has received the packet information performs traveling control of the host vehicle based on information included in the packet information so as to avoid contact with other vehicles. The in-vehicle communication device displays the traveling status of the other vehicle based on the information included in the received packet information.

  When transmitting the packet information, the in-vehicle communication device designates the in-vehicle communication device of another vehicle that performs relay transmission as the relay device. And the packet information containing the identification information of the designated vehicle-mounted communication apparatus is transmitted. The in-vehicle communication device of the other vehicle that has received the packet information obtains information to be transmitted from the packet information, and relays the packet information when designated as a relay device. Thereby, the packet information can be made to reach from the transmission source vehicle to a distant vehicle.

  The in-vehicle communication device designates, as a relay vehicle, the other vehicle having the largest elevation angle when the packet communication antenna 10 is viewed from the own vehicle among the plurality of other vehicles. In order to perform such designation, the in-vehicle communication device acquires in advance information indicating the height with respect to the vehicle travel surface of the packet communication antenna 10 of the other vehicle from the in-vehicle communication device of the other vehicle. And the database about the elevation angle of the packet communication antenna 10 of another vehicle is memorize | stored in the other vehicle table memory | storage part 24 as an other vehicle table. The in-vehicle communication device designates the relay device based on the other vehicle table.

  In order to perform transmission / reception of such packet information, the in-vehicle communication device performs packet notification processing for transmitting and transmitting packet information, and reception relay processing for receiving packet information and performing relay transmission according to the setting contents.

  In the packet notification process, packet information including information related to the host vehicle is notified and transmitted. In the reception relay process, the packet information transmitted from the in-vehicle communication device of the other vehicle is received, and the information targeted by the transmission source vehicle is acquired. Further, information for registering in the other vehicle table is acquired from the received packet information, and when the packet information is designated as a relay device by the setting contents of the packet information, the packet information is relayed and transmitted.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration of packet information transmitted and received by the in-vehicle communication device. In the transmission source ID description part, an identification code (hereinafter referred to as ID) assigned to the in-vehicle communication device of the packet information transmission source is set. In the antenna height description portion, antenna height information indicating the height of the packet communication antenna 10 of the transmission source vehicle with respect to the vehicle running surface is set. Travel information indicating the position and speed of the transmission source vehicle is set in the travel information description section. In the relay request ID description part, the ID of the in-vehicle communication device specified by the transmission in-vehicle communication device as the relay device is set. Depending on the processing of the in-vehicle communication device that is the transmission source, null information that has no particular meaning may be set. The data description part can include arbitrary information desired to be notified to the passenger of the transmission destination vehicle, such as vehicle attribute information such as the type of transmission source vehicle, manufacturer, and external shape.

  A reception relay process performed by the in-vehicle communication device will be described. 3A and 3B show a flowchart of the reception relay process. Symbols A1 and A2 surrounded by circles described in FIG. 3B indicate that they are connected to symbols A1 and A2 surrounded by circles described in FIG. 3A, respectively.

  The receiving unit 12 receives packet information via the packet communication antenna 10 and outputs the packet information to the information processing unit 20. The information processing unit 20 extracts the ID set in the transmission source ID description unit as the transmission source ID (S101). Further, the vehicle ID assigned to the in-vehicle communication device is read from the vehicle information storage unit 22 (S102), and the transmission source ID and the vehicle ID are compared (S103). The information processing unit 20 ends the process when the transmission source ID matches the own vehicle ID (A2). On the other hand, if the transmission source ID and the vehicle ID do not match, the process proceeds to step S104.

  According to step S103, when the transmission source ID and the own vehicle ID match, the processing for the packet information ends. The fact that the transmission source ID and the vehicle ID coincide with each other means that the in-vehicle communication device has received the packet information previously transmitted by the in-vehicle communication device as the transmission source. Accordingly, the packet information including the same information content as that of the relay transmission is transmitted again by the process after step S104 described later. According to step S103, packet information including the same information content can be avoided from being transmitted again.

  The information processing unit 20 extracts the travel information set in the travel information description unit (S104). Then, based on the transmission source ID and travel information extracted from the packet information, and the map information acquired from the map data storage unit 30, image information depicting the position and speed at which the transmission source vehicle is present is drawn on the map. Generate. The information processing unit 20 outputs the generated image information to the display unit 28 (S105). The display unit 28 displays the image information. In addition, when the attribute information of a transmission source vehicle etc. are contained in the data description part, the information processing part 20 may extract it and may add it to image information. By such processing, an image depicting the traveling state of the transmission source vehicle on the map can be displayed on the display unit 28.

  The in-vehicle communication device includes a positioning device 18 in order to perform travel control of the host vehicle based on the travel information of the host vehicle and transmit the travel information of the host vehicle to another vehicle. The positioning device 18 receives a signal transmitted from the positioning satellite via the positioning antenna 16 and acquires position information indicating the position of the host vehicle. Furthermore, position information is acquired at predetermined time intervals, and a speed vector of the host vehicle is acquired based on a change in position information for each time interval. Then, the travel information including the position information and the speed vector is output to the information processing unit 20.

  The information processing unit 20 acquires the travel information output from the positioning device 18 as the own vehicle travel information (S106). And based on the traveling information extracted from the own vehicle traveling information and the packet information, the distance between the own vehicle and the transmission source vehicle, the relative speed between the own vehicle and the transmission source vehicle, and the transmission source viewed from the own vehicle The azimuth angle in the direction in which the vehicle exists is obtained and output to the vehicle control unit 26 (S107). The vehicle control unit 26 controls the traveling state of the host vehicle based on the distance to the transmission source vehicle, the relative speed, and the azimuth angle of the transmission source vehicle so that a collision with the transmission source vehicle is avoided. The running state of the vehicle can be controlled, for example, by operating an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a gear change lever, a handle, and the like provided in the vehicle.

  The information processing unit 20 extracts the antenna height information set in the antenna height description unit (S108). Based on the position information of the own vehicle indicated by the own vehicle travel information, the position information of the transmission source vehicle indicated by the travel information extracted in step S104, and the antenna height information, the information processing unit 20 transmits the information from the own vehicle to the transmission source vehicle. The antenna elevation angle of the packet communication antenna 10 is determined (S109).

  Here, the geometric calculation of the antenna elevation angle will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows a case where there is an altitude difference h between the position of the host vehicle p and the position of the transmission source vehicle q. The length of the perpendicular line V drawn from the packet communication antenna 10 of the transmission source vehicle q to the straight line L connecting the host vehicle p and the transmission source vehicle q is the antenna height A of the transmission source vehicle q.

  Based on the own vehicle position and the transmission source vehicle position, the information processing unit 20 obtains an altitude difference h based on the horizontal plane HP including the own vehicle p and a distance d from the own vehicle p to the transmission source vehicle q. Then, based on the altitude difference h, the distance d, and the antenna height A, the elevation angle φ when the packet communication antenna 10 of the transmission source vehicle q is viewed from the own vehicle p with respect to the horizontal plane HP is obtained as the antenna elevation angle.

  In this geometric calculation, the antenna elevation angle is obtained in consideration of the altitude difference h. However, even if the altitude difference h = 0, the antenna elevation angle with respect to the running surface is obtained without considering the elevation difference h. Good. The antenna elevation angle here can be obtained regardless of whether or not the packet communication antenna 10 of the transmission source vehicle q is within line of sight from the position calculation reference point of the host vehicle p. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the transmission source vehicle q is traveling ahead of the host vehicle p, the position calculation reference point P of the host vehicle p and the position calculation reference point Q of the transmission source vehicle q are used. A straight line M connecting the point QA located above the antenna height A passes through the rear part of the transmission source vehicle q. Therefore, the packet communication antenna 10 of the transmission source vehicle is not within the line-of-sight of the position calculation reference point P. Even in such a case, the antenna elevation angle can be obtained as an angle φ formed by the straight line M penetrating the transmission source vehicle q and the horizontal plane HP.

  The information processing unit 20 registers other vehicle information in which the transmission source ID, the transmission source position information, and the antenna elevation angle are associated with each other in the other vehicle table stored in the other vehicle table storage unit 24 (S110).

  FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the other vehicle table. In the other vehicle table, other vehicle information of a predetermined number or less is registered. When new other vehicle information is registered when the predetermined number of other vehicle information has already been registered, the other vehicle information registered first is deleted from the other vehicle table and newly generated. Other vehicle information is registered. The other vehicle table shown in FIG. 6 can register other vehicle information of 10 sets or less. Further, this figure shows a case where four sets of other vehicle information are registered. The transmission source ID can be represented by a combination of English letters and numbers, and the transmission source position information can be represented by a coordinate value of a three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate with the center of the earth as the origin. In addition, in order to reflect the present condition of a transmission source vehicle correctly with respect to another vehicle table, you may perform the process which deletes the other vehicle information which predetermined time passed after registration.

  According to steps S101 to S110, when the transmission source ID and the vehicle ID do not match, other vehicle information is generated based on the packet information and registered in the other vehicle table. The other vehicle information is associated with the antenna height information of the transmission source vehicle. As a result, a database for designating a vehicle for relay transmission based on the height of the packet communication antenna 10 can be accumulated.

  The information processing unit 20 determines whether or not an ID is set in the relay request ID description unit of the packet information (S111). When no ID is set, a relay packet generation process described later is executed (S114). On the other hand, when the ID is set, the ID is extracted as a relay request ID (S112) and compared with the own vehicle ID (S113). When the relay request ID matches the own vehicle ID, the information processing unit 20 executes a relay packet generation process (S114). On the other hand, when the relay request ID and the vehicle ID do not match, the process for the packet information is terminated.

  According to steps S111 to S113, if an ID is set in the relay request ID description part and the ID matches the own vehicle ID, or if no ID is set in the relay request ID description part, the packet A relay packet generation process (S114) is performed on the information. On the other hand, if an ID is set in the relay request ID description part and the ID does not match the own vehicle ID, the process for the packet information is completed. As a result, processing for relay transmission is performed for packet information in which the same ID as the vehicle ID is set in the relay request ID description portion and packet information in which null information is set in the relay request ID description portion. Applied. On the other hand, when an ID different from the own vehicle ID is set in the relay request ID description part, the process ends.

  The relay packet generation process (S114) will be described. The relay packet generation process is a process for changing the setting contents of the packet information in order to relay and transmit the packet information. FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the relay packet generation process.

  The information processing unit 20 refers to the other vehicle table storage unit 24 and determines whether other vehicle information other than the other vehicle information registered in step S110 is registered (S114-1). When such other vehicle information is not registered, null information is set in the relay request ID description part of the packet information (S114-4), the relay packet generation process is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S115 in FIG. 3B. Transition.

  On the other hand, when other vehicle information other than the other vehicle information registered in step S110 is registered, the transmission request ID of the other vehicle information having the largest antenna elevation angle among the registered other vehicle information is the relay request ID. (S114-2). In addition, when the other vehicle information registered is one, other vehicle information is employ | adopted. When there is a plurality of other vehicle information having the same antenna elevation angle, the last registered other vehicle information is employed.

  The information processing section 20 sets the relay request ID in the relay request ID description section of the packet information (S114-3), ends the relay packet generation process, and proceeds to step S115 in FIG. 3B.

  After executing the relay packet generation process, the information processing unit 20 outputs the packet information subjected to the relay packet generation process to the transmission unit 14 (S115). The transmission unit 14 transmits packet information via the packet communication antenna 10.

  According to such processing, the ID of the in-vehicle communication device of the other vehicle having the largest antenna elevation angle among the other vehicles in which the other vehicle information is registered is set as the relay request ID in the relay request ID description unit. The in-vehicle communication device of the other vehicle that has received this packet information also performs the reception relay processing described here, and relays the packet information when the ID set in the relay request ID description section matches its own ID. . Therefore, among the other vehicles registered in the other vehicle information, the in-vehicle communication device of the other vehicle having the largest antenna elevation angle can perform relay transmission of the packet information. The reason why the transmission source ID included in the other vehicle information registered in step S110 is not used as the relay request ID (S114-1) is as follows. That is, the transmission source ID included in the other vehicle information registered in step S110 indicates the transmission source of the packet information under the processing of the relay packet generation process, and the in-vehicle communication device that is the transmission source of the packet information transmits itself. If the received packet information is received, the process is terminated (S103). For this reason, setting such a transmission source ID as a relay request ID does not make sense for subsequent processing.

  The packet information transmitted from the transmission source vehicle is blocked by a nearby vehicle, and the packet information may not reach a vehicle far from the vehicle. According to the in-vehicle communication device according to the present embodiment, the in-vehicle communication device of another vehicle having a large antenna elevation angle can perform relay transmission. Thus, the packet information can be transmitted to a vehicle farther away than the vehicle near the transmission source vehicle, and the packet information can reach the farther vehicle.

  Furthermore, according to the in-vehicle communication device according to the present embodiment, it is possible to cause a designated one of the in-vehicle communication devices of a plurality of vehicles to perform relay transmission. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid the problem that packet information having overlapping information contents is relayed and transmitted multiple times by the same in-vehicle communication device, and the amount of information to be processed in each in-vehicle communication device exceeds its processing capability.

  Here, when null information is set in the relay request ID description part, the packet information is relayed and transmitted (S113), but when null information is set in the relay request ID description part. May be a process that does not perform relay transmission of packet information. In this case, if “No” is determined in step S111, the reception relay process is terminated.

  Next, packet notification processing performed by the in-vehicle communication device will be described. This process is a process in which each in-vehicle communication device transmits packet information as a transmission source. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the packet notification process. The packet notification process is executed every time a predetermined time elapses. Alternatively, it may be executed each time the mounted vehicle travels a predetermined distance.

  The information processing unit 20 reads the vehicle ID from the vehicle information storage unit 22 and sets it in the transmission source ID description unit as a transmission source ID (S116). In addition, the information processing unit 20 reads the antenna height information of the host vehicle from the host vehicle information storage unit 22, and sets the antenna height information in the antenna height description unit (S117). Furthermore, the information processing section 20 acquires travel information from the positioning device 18 and sets it in the travel information description section (S118). Further, the information processing unit 20 reads information to be transmitted to the passenger of the destination vehicle, such as attribute information of the own vehicle, from the own vehicle information storage unit 22 and sets it in the data description unit (S119).

  The information processing unit 20 refers to the other vehicle table storage unit 24 and determines whether other vehicle information is registered (S120). When other vehicle information is not registered in the other vehicle table, null information is set in the relay request ID description part (S124), and packet information is output to the transmission part 14 (S123). The transmission unit 14 transmits packet information via the packet communication antenna 10.

  On the other hand, when other vehicle information is registered in the other vehicle table, the transmission source ID of the other vehicle information having the largest antenna elevation angle among the registered other vehicle information is acquired as the relay request ID (S121). Note that. When there is one registered other vehicle information, the transmission source ID of the other vehicle information is adopted. When there is a plurality of other vehicle information having the same antenna elevation angle, the last registered other vehicle information is employed.

  The information processing unit 20 sets the relay request ID in the relay request ID description unit of the packet information (S122), and outputs the packet information to the transmission unit 14 (S123). The transmission unit 14 transmits packet information via the packet communication antenna 10.

  According to such processing, the ID of the in-vehicle communication device of the other vehicle having the largest antenna elevation angle among the other vehicles in which the other vehicle information is registered is set as the relay request ID in the relay request ID description unit. Accordingly, it is possible to cause the in-vehicle communication device of the other vehicle having the largest antenna elevation angle to perform relay transmission of the packet information among other vehicles in which the other vehicle information is registered. Therefore, packet information can be transmitted to a vehicle farther away than a vehicle near the transmission source vehicle, and the packet information can reach a farther vehicle.

  Moreover, according to such a process, it can be made to perform relay transmission to the designated thing among the vehicle-mounted communication apparatuses of a some vehicle. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid the problem that packet information having overlapping information contents is relayed and transmitted multiple times by the same in-vehicle communication device, and the amount of information to be processed in each in-vehicle communication device exceeds its processing capability.

  Next, the reception relay extension process and the packet broadcast extension process will be described. 9A and 9B show a flowchart of the reception relay extension process, and FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of the packet broadcast extension process. The same processes as those shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 7 and 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The other vehicle information described above associates the transmission source ID, the transmission source position information, and the antenna elevation angle. In the reception relay extension process and the packet notification extension process, the extended other vehicle information in which the belonging relay area is further associated with such other vehicle information is used.

  Here, the affiliated relay area refers to an area to which the transmission source vehicle belongs among a plurality of relay areas divided by azimuth angles with respect to the host vehicle. FIG. 11 shows an example of the relay area. In the example of FIG. 11, the relay area is divided by an azimuth angle in which the front of the host vehicle is 0 ° and the counterclockwise direction is positive when the host vehicle is viewed from above. An azimuth range with an azimuth angle of −45 ° or more and less than 45 ° is the front area 34, an azimuth angle range with an azimuth angle of 45 ° or more and less than 135 ° is the left area 36, and the azimuth angle is 135 ° or more and less than 180 ° or −180 The azimuth angle range of ≧ ° and less than −135 ° is defined as the rear area 38, and the azimuth angle range of −135 ° and less than −45 ° is defined as the right area 40.

  FIG. 12 shows a configuration example of another vehicle table when the reception relay extension process and the packet notification extension process are performed. In this other vehicle table, four transmission source vehicles having “FR45RT”, “KJ87Y7”, “L08D36”, and “G3J09U” as transmission source IDs are respectively shown in the front area, the rear area, the rear area, and the right area. Belonging to the relay area.

  9A and 9B, the information processing unit 20 determines the antenna elevation angle in step S109, and then determines that the transmission source vehicle has a plurality of relays based on the azimuth angle of the transmission source vehicle determined in step S107. It is determined to which of the areas it belongs (S201). Then, the extended other vehicle information in which the transmission source ID, the transmission source position information, the antenna elevation angle, and the belonging relay area are associated is generated and registered in the other vehicle table (S202).

  After executing the processes of steps S101 to S109, S201, S202, and S111 to S113, the information processing unit 20 copies received packet information by the number obtained by subtracting 1 from the number of defined relay areas. Generate (S203). As a result, the same number of pieces of packet information as relay transmission targets as the number of relay areas are prepared. In the example of FIG. 11, four pieces of packet information are prepared. The information processing unit 20 performs a relay packet generation process (S114) for each of the plurality of relay areas (S204), and transmits the packet information generated for each relay area by the same process as step S115 (S205). When relay areas are defined as shown in FIG. 11, a total of four pieces of packet information are relayed and transmitted for the four areas.

  In step S114-2 of the relay packet generation process performed for one relay area, the information processing unit 20 relates to the transmission source vehicle belonging to the relay area under the processing target among the registered other vehicle information. Select. And the transmission source ID of the other vehicle information with the largest antenna elevation angle among the selected other vehicle information is acquired as the relay request ID (S114-2). For example, when the other vehicle table has the contents shown in FIG. 12, in the relay packet generation process for the rear area, two other vehicle information whose transmission source IDs are “KJ87Y7” and “L08D36” are selected. Among these, the one with the larger antenna elevation angle is the other vehicle information whose transmission source ID is “KJ87Y7”, so “KJ87Y7” is acquired as the relay request ID.

  According to such processing, the relay request ID is individually determined in each relay area based on the antenna elevation angle, and packet information can be individually relayed and transmitted in each relay area. Accordingly, it is possible to cause the in-vehicle communication device of the other vehicle having the largest antenna elevation angle among other vehicles existing in one area to perform relay transmission of the packet information. Accordingly, the packet information can be reliably relayed and transmitted to the vehicles in a plurality of directions, and the packet information can be reached over a wide range.

  The packet broadcast extension process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10 sets a relay request ID individually in each relay area based on the antenna elevation angle, as in the reception relay extension process.

  After executing the processing of steps S116 to S119, the information processing unit 20 generates copies of the packet information generated in steps S116 to S119 by the number obtained by subtracting 1 from the number of relay areas (S206). As a result, the same number of packet information to be transmitted as the number of relay areas is prepared. In the example of FIG. 11, four pieces of packet information are prepared. The information processing unit 20 performs the processing of steps S120 to S124 for setting and transmitting the relay request ID for each of the plurality of relay areas (S207).

  In step S121 performed for one relay area, the information processing unit 20 selects information relating to the transmission source vehicle belonging to the relay area under the processing target from among the registered other vehicle information. Then, the transmission source ID of the other vehicle information having the largest antenna elevation angle among the selected other vehicle information is acquired as the relay request ID (S124).

  According to such processing, similarly to the reception relay extension processing, packet information can be reliably relayed and transmitted to a vehicle in a plurality of directions, and packet information can be reached over a wide range.

  Here, the process which determines relay request ID based on the elevation angle which looked at the packet communication antenna 10 of the other vehicle from the own vehicle was demonstrated. In addition to such processing, vehicle height measurement reference points determined in advance for each vehicle constituting the in-vehicle communication system, such as the roof of the other vehicle, the upper part of the front end, the upper part of the rear end, the highest part (the highest part), etc. The relay request ID may be determined based on the observed elevation angle. Here, the vehicle height measurement reference point is assumed to be the highest part of the vehicle, and the process of determining the relay request ID based on the highest part elevation angle when the highest part of the other vehicle is viewed from the own vehicle will be described. The highest elevation angle is not the elevation angle when the highest part of the other vehicle's line of sight is seen from the own vehicle, but the point above the position calculation reference point of the other vehicle by the height of the other vehicle from the position calculation reference point of the own vehicle. It means the angle between the connecting straight line and the horizontal plane. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, when another vehicle r is traveling in front of the host vehicle p, the vehicle is calculated from the position calculation reference point P of the host vehicle p and the position calculation reference point R of the transmission source vehicle r. An angle ψ formed by a straight line M connecting the point RT above the height T and the horizontal plane HP is the highest elevation angle.

  In this case, the vehicle height information indicating the vehicle height of the vehicle with respect to the traveling surface is stored in the vehicle information storage unit 22. In the packet information, a vehicle height description portion is provided instead of the antenna height description portion, and vehicle height information of the transmission source vehicle is set. Further, the vehicle height information may be set in the data description portion without providing the vehicle height description portion. As a result, the in-vehicle communication device transmits information including the vehicle height information of the host vehicle in the packet information. Other vehicle information registered in the other vehicle table of each in-vehicle communication device is associated with vehicle height information instead of the antenna height information. Moreover, the process which calculates | requires the highest part elevation angle is performed instead of the process (S109) which calculates | requires an antenna elevation angle in said reception relay process and packet alerting | reporting process.

  The packet information transmitted from the transmission source vehicle is blocked by a nearby vehicle, and the packet information may not reach a vehicle far from the vehicle. In addition, since the in-vehicle communication device transmits and receives packet information satisfactorily, it is considered that the packet communication antenna 10 is attached in the vicinity of the highest part of the vehicle in many vehicles constituting the in-vehicle communication system. Therefore, by performing the process of determining the relay request ID based on the highest part elevation angle, the packet information can be relayed and transmitted favorably.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted communication apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of packet information. It is a flowchart which shows the first half of a reception relay process. It is a flowchart which shows the second half of a reception relay process. It is a figure explaining the geometric calculation of an antenna elevation angle. It is a figure explaining the antenna elevation angle in case the packet communication antenna of a transmission source vehicle is not in the line of sight of the own vehicle. It is a figure which shows the structural example of another vehicle table. It is a flowchart of a relay packet generation process. Packet notification process flowchart It is a flowchart which shows the first half of a reception relay expansion process. It is a flowchart which shows the second half of a reception relay expansion process. It is a flowchart of a packet alerting | reporting expansion process. It is a figure which shows the example of a relay area. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the other vehicle table at the time of performing a reception relay expansion process and a packet alerting | reporting expansion process. It is a figure explaining the highest part elevation angle.

Explanation of symbols

  10 packet communication antenna, 12 receiving unit, 14 transmitting unit, 16 positioning antenna, 18 positioning device, 20 information processing unit, 22 own vehicle information storage unit, 24 other vehicle table storage unit, 26 vehicle control unit, 28 display unit, 30 Map data storage unit, 32 own vehicle, 34 front area, 36 left area, 38 rear area, 40 right area.

Claims (3)

An in-vehicle packet information transmitting device that is mounted on the host vehicle and transmits packet information,
A host vehicle positioning unit for measuring the position of the host vehicle;
An other vehicle information acquisition unit for acquiring an identification code of the other vehicle, position information of the other vehicle, and height information of an antenna mounted on the other vehicle;
An other vehicle elevation angle acquisition unit for obtaining an elevation angle when viewing the antenna position of the other vehicle from the own vehicle based on a measurement result of the own vehicle positioning unit and information acquired by the other vehicle information acquisition unit;
A relay vehicle selection unit that selects a relay vehicle that relays and transmits the packet information to the mounted relay device, based on the elevation angle obtained by the other vehicle elevation angle acquisition unit, from among the plurality of other vehicles;
A transmission unit for transmitting the packet information including the identification code of the other vehicle selected by the relay vehicle selection unit;
With
A vehicle-mounted packet information transmitting device, wherein the on-vehicle relay device of another vehicle to which the identification code included in the packet information is assigned relays the packet information. An in-vehicle packet information transmitting device that is mounted on the host vehicle and transmits packet information,
A host vehicle positioning unit for measuring the position of the host vehicle;
Other vehicle information acquisition unit for acquiring an identification code of the other vehicle, position information of the other vehicle, and vehicle height information of the other vehicle,
An other vehicle elevation angle acquisition unit for obtaining an elevation angle of the vehicle height measurement reference point of the other vehicle from the host vehicle based on a measurement result of the host vehicle positioning unit and information acquired by the other vehicle information acquisition unit;
A relay vehicle selection unit that selects a relay vehicle that relays and transmits the packet information to the mounted relay device, based on the elevation angle obtained by the other vehicle elevation angle acquisition unit, from among the plurality of other vehicles;
A transmission unit for transmitting the packet information including the identification code of the other vehicle selected by the relay vehicle selection unit;
With
A vehicle-mounted packet information transmitting device, wherein the on-vehicle relay device of another vehicle to which the identification code included in the packet information is assigned relays the packet information. The in-vehicle packet information transmission device according to claim 1 or 2,
An area determination unit that determines in which area of the plurality of relay areas divided according to the direction viewed from the host vehicle the other vehicle exists based on information acquired by the other vehicle information acquisition unit With
The relay vehicle selection unit is
The vehicle-mounted packet information transmitting apparatus, wherein the relay vehicle is selected for each relay division area based on a determination result of the area determination unit.

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