JP2009253828A - Wireless communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for performing a communication between a mobile station such as an in-vehicle unit and a radio device such as a road-side unit, in a system using DSRC, by detecting that the mobile station is located in a predetermined communication area, without using any position sensor. <P>SOLUTION: When a vehicle 27 moves into a ticket issuing place 42, in an entrance of the ticket issuing place 42, a vehicle detection antenna 24 on the ceiling near the entrance acquires a wireless call number (WCN) from an in-vehicle unit 26 of the vehicle 27 to detect entry of the vehicle. When the vehicle 27 further moves forward and reaches in front of a ticket issuing adjustment machine 43, an actual-communication antenna 22 on the ceiling near the ticket issuing adjustment machine 43 starts actual communication to perform ticket issuing processing or gate opening/closing processing. The communication using the two antennas (22, 24) is established from one base station 21, and a high frequency switcher 28 on the ceiling switches the actual-communication antenna 22 and the vehicle detection antenna 24 in a time division manner to connect to the base station 21. Thus, even during the real communication in an actual-communication area 23, a vehicle in a vehicle detection area 25 can be detected in the time division manner substantially in parallel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a wireless communication system that performs two-way wireless communication between a mobile station (on-vehicle device) mounted on a vehicle or the like and a roadside device set on the roadside to execute predetermined processing.

  DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication), which was previously limited to public facilities such as expressways, has been opened to the general public and has been introduced to various facilities such as parking lot systems, gas station refueling systems, and drive-through services. It is being promoted. The DSRC can perform various processes by specifying an appropriate communication target even when there are a plurality of vehicles, because the security is easily ensured by performing communication in a narrow area. FIG. 1 shows an outline of a DSRC system 10 applied to a parking lot. As shown in the figure, in this DSRC system 10, first, a vehicle detector 13 separately installed near the actual communication area 14 formed by the actual communication antenna 12 connected to the base station 11 detects the vehicle 17, Thereafter, the base station 11 communicates with the vehicle-mounted device 16.

  One of the major obstacles in the private sector is the introduction cost. The reliability of the system is sufficiently practical due to the track record in public facilities such as expressways, but in order to apply it as it is to private facilities, the convenience and cost required by the private sector were taken into account. It is necessary to introduce a system.

For example, there is a technique in which a single DSRC radio communicates with a plurality of vehicles (on-vehicle devices) in a gas station equipped with a large number of refueling machines (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this technology, a position sensor detects that a vehicle that has entered a refueling base is located in front of a predetermined refueling machine, and one DSRC radio equipped with a plurality of antennas switches connection antennas using a high-frequency switch. Communicate with the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle. At this time, it is possible to communicate with the vehicle-mounted device at the same timing when a plurality of refueling machines exist in a relatively narrow area by regarding the communication reception level of the strongest level as a processing target while checking the output level of communication. Even in some cases, smooth service provision is possible.
JP 2006-44617 A

  By the way, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the position sensor is a constituent element as described above, and in order to achieve a desired detection accuracy at an inlet such as a fueling base of a gas station or a parking lot, A loop coil is often embedded as a sensor. However, due to capital investment and interruption of refueling services during burial work, other technologies were required. In parking lots, etc., there is a technology that recognizes the number plate and correlates the vehicle number with the parking ticket, and uses it for the fee settlement process. Occasionally occurs or the number of the vehicle cannot be recognized depending on the direction of the vehicle.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional situation, and in a system using bidirectional communication, a mobile station such as an on-vehicle device and a radio device such as a roadside device are not connected to a mobile station without using a position sensor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for detecting that the mobile phone is located in a predetermined communication area and performing communication again in another nearby communication area.

  An apparatus according to the present invention relates to a radio communication system, which includes a radio that performs bidirectional communication with a mobile station, and a first antenna that is connected to the radio and forms a predetermined first communication area. And a second antenna that forms a predetermined second communication area in an area different from the first communication area, and a connection target of the radio is divided into the first antenna or the second antenna in a time-sharing manner. A high-frequency switching means for switching, and a wireless communication system that executes a predetermined application with the mobile station, wherein the detection means detects that the mobile station is located in the first communication area, When the mobile station detected in the first communication area is detected in the second communication area, the predetermined application is executed, and at the same time, the mobile station detected in the first communication area is And a control means for executing a process of detecting the Dokyoku.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in a system using bidirectional communication, a mobile station such as a vehicle-mounted device and a radio device such as a roadside device indicate that the mobile station is located in a predetermined communication area without using a position sensor. It is possible to provide a technique for detecting and communicating in another nearby communication area.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter simply referred to as “embodiment”) will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the DSRC system 20 introduced into the parking lot according to the present embodiment. The function and operation of each component will be described later with reference to FIG. 3, but when the vehicle 27 enters the ticketing area 42, it is for detecting a vehicle installed on the ceiling near the entrance at the entrance of the ticketing area 42. The antenna 24 detects the vehicle-mounted device 26 of the vehicle 27. When the vehicle 27 further proceeds and reaches the front of the ticket settlement machine 43, the actual communication antenna 22 installed on the ceiling in the vicinity of the ticket settlement machine 43 starts actual communication, and ticketing processing and gate opening / closing processing are executed. In the case of an exit, a settlement process is performed. When there is a following vehicle 27 ′, the actual communication antenna 22 communicates with the vehicle-mounted device 26 of the vehicle 27 located in the actual communication area 23 to perform actual ticketing processing, and the vehicle detection antenna 24 detects the vehicle. Vehicle detection is performed by communicating with the vehicle-mounted device 26 ′ of the succeeding vehicle 27 ′ located in the region 25. Communication using the two antennas (22, 24) at this time is performed from one base station 21, and the high-frequency switch 28 installed on the ceiling connects the actual communication antenna 22 and the vehicle detection antenna 24 in a time division manner. Switch to connect to the base station 21.

  FIG. 3 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the DSRC system 20. The DSRC system 20 includes a server 40, a base station 21, an actual communication antenna 22, a vehicle detection antenna 24, and a high frequency switch 28. The server 40 controls the base station 21, and performs various application processes of the DSRC system 20, for example, authentication processing of the IC card inserted into the vehicle-mounted device 26 or the vehicle-mounted device 26 based on the communication result with the vehicle-mounted device 26. Cargo ticketing process, vehicle 27 entry / exit management, checkout process, etc. Further, the server 40 includes a vehicle detection determination unit 41 and performs vehicle detection by communication using the vehicle detection antenna 24. Specifically, the vehicle detection determination unit 41 acquires a WCN (Wireless Call Number), which is a number uniquely set for the vehicle-mounted device 26, so that the vehicle 27 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 26 is in the ticketing area 42. It detects that it has entered. Note that the server 40 and the base station 21 may be configured integrally.

  The actual communication antenna 22 forms an actual communication area 23 near the road surface in the vicinity of the ticket issuing machine 43. The vehicle detection antenna 24 forms the vehicle detection antenna 24 in the vicinity of the entrance of the ticketing area 42. That is, the base station 21 communicates with the vehicle-mounted device 26 of the vehicle 27 that has entered the vicinity of the ticket clearing machine 43 using the actual communication antenna 22. In addition, the base station 21 communicates with the vehicle-mounted device 26 ′ of the subsequent vehicle 27 ′ that is about to enter the ticketing area 42 in the vicinity of the entrance of the ticketing area 42 using the vehicle detection antenna 24. For this processing, the base station 21 includes a general DSRC radio unit 31 that realizes communication by DSRC, a communication interface 32 that communicates with the server 40 and the ticket clearing machine 43 via a network line, and a high-frequency switcher. 28, and a switching control unit 33 that performs selective connection between the actual communication antenna 22 and the vehicle detection antenna 24. Note that the switching control unit 33 may be configured in the server 40. In response to the instruction from the switching control unit 33, the high-frequency switch 28 switches the connection destination of the transmission / reception signal of the base station 21 to either the actual communication antenna 22 or the vehicle detection antenna 24 in a time-sharing manner.

The operation of the DSRC system 20 and the ticket issuer 43 having the above configuration will be described.
The vehicle detection antenna 24 detects the presence or absence of a vehicle in the vehicle detection area 25. Specifically, a signal for requesting WCN is constantly transmitted from the vehicle detection antenna 24. When the vehicle 27 enters the vehicle detection area 25 and the vehicle-mounted device 26 receives the request for the WCN, the vehicle-mounted device 26 uses the WCN set in the vehicle-mounted device 26 in response to the request for vehicle detection. The server 40 is notified via the antenna 24 and the base station 21. Here, the process via the vehicle detection antenna 24 in the vehicle detection area 25 assumes only the exchange of WCN, but the server 40 indicates that the onboard unit 26 starts the entrance process to the parking lot. You may be notified. By giving such notification, it is possible to alert the vehicle that has entered the ticketing area 42 by mistake. Further, a process of confirming whether or not the settlement process using the IC card inserted into the vehicle-mounted device 26 is desired, that is, whether or not the settlement process using the DSRC system is desired may be executed.

  Upon receiving the WCN notification from the vehicle-mounted device 26, the server 40 determines that the vehicle 27 using the ticket settlement machine 43 in the ticketing place 42 has entered, and the actual communication antenna 22 is sent to the switching control unit 33 of the base station 21. Instructs to start communication at. In response to the instruction, the switching control unit 33 drives the high-frequency switch 28 to switch the connection destination of the DSRC radio unit 31 to the actual communication antenna 22 or the vehicle detection antenna 24 in a time division manner.

  Then, when the vehicle 27 further advances and enters the actual communication antenna 22 which is a front area where the ticket clearing machine 43 is installed, the server 40 receives the vehicle-mounted device via the DSRC radio unit 31 and the actual communication antenna 22. 26 to request WCN again. At this time, if it is admission, as a ticketing process, the server 40 notifies the in-vehicle device 26 that the parking ticket is not used by the admission time and the DSRC service when receiving a WCN response from the on-vehicle device 26. The admission time is, for example, the time when WCN is received again. In the server 40, the WCN and the entry time are associated with each other and stored in a predetermined storage unit. And the gate which is not illustrated is opened and the vehicle 27 is entered. In addition, the driver receives a parking ticket from the ticket settlement machine 43 when he / she desires a settlement process with cash instead of a settlement process with an IC card inserted into the vehicle-mounted device 26.

  In addition, if it is an entry from the parking lot, the server 40 sets the response time as an exit time based on the WCN that received the response as a checkout process, and further records the entrance time recorded at the entrance and the exit. The parking fee is calculated from the time, and the calculated parking fee is notified to the vehicle-mounted device 26. At this time, for example, if fee settlement using an IC card inserted into the vehicle-mounted device 26 is set, the server 40 performs a settlement process by executing a predetermined process for accessing the IC card. If the payment is not made using an IC card, the server 40 requests the in-vehicle device 26 to insert a parking fee into the ticket issuer 43. Therefore, if communication with the vehicle-mounted device 26 is possible, the parking lot can be used without issuing a parking ticket even if cash settlement is desired.

  Then, when the vehicle 27 is performing settlement processing in the actual communication area 23, the vehicle 27 'following the vehicle 27 is detected in the vehicle detection area 25. That is, since the communication from the base station 21 is connected to the actual communication antenna 22 or the vehicle detection antenna 24 in a time division manner by the high frequency switch 28, the base station 21 performs the actual communication at substantially the same timing. The adjustment process of the vehicle 27 (on-vehicle device 26) in the area 23 and the vehicle detection process of the subsequent vehicle 27 ′ (on-vehicle apparatus 26 ′) in the vehicle detection area 25 can be executed.

  Thereafter, when the subsequent vehicle 27 ′ enters the actual communication area 23, the vehicle-mounted device 26 ′ of the vehicle 27 ′ starts communication with the base station 21 via the actual communication antenna 22, as with the previous vehicle 27. The server 40 connected to the base station 21 performs entrance processing. If it is an entry, the parking fee will be settled. Also at this time, as described above, the communication of the base station 21 switches the output destination to the actual communication antenna 22 or the vehicle detection antenna 24 by the high frequency switch 28 in a time division manner, so that the vehicle detection formed by the vehicle detection antenna 24 is performed. Vehicle detection in the area 25 is performed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, communication of one base station 21 is connected to a plurality of time-division antennas (22, 24), one antenna is used for vehicle detection processing, and the other antenna is substantially used for adjustment processing. This is used for processing (actual communication) with a vehicle-mounted device 26. Conventionally, from the viewpoint of vehicle detection accuracy, a loop coil embedded in the road surface is often used as compared with an optical sensor, but the occurrence of an embedding work has been one of the major problems. However, by detecting the vehicle using DSRC, it is possible to limit the detection area to a narrow range while using radio, improving the degree of freedom of the installation mode while realizing the detection accuracy equal to or higher than that of the loop coil. Can be made. Furthermore, since no burial work or the like occurs even when new equipment is introduced, the use of facilities such as parking lots is not substantially interrupted.

  In addition, since actual communication is performed after vehicle detection, even if the vehicle 27 accidentally enters the ticketing area 42, vehicle detection is performed in the vehicle detection area 25 in advance, and the server 40 If necessary, the vehicle 27 can be notified of the process to be performed further forward (in this case, admission and checkout process), so the driver must take an appropriate action before such process is performed. Can do. Depending on the driver, when an unintended process occurs, it is not possible to deal with it immediately, and it may cause trouble for the following vehicle. In this embodiment, such a case can be prevented.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of these components, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

  For example, three or more antennas whose connection is switched by the high-frequency switch 28 may be used. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the DSRC system 120 according to such a modification. Here, a different point from the above-mentioned embodiment is demonstrated, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the component of the same function, and description is abbreviate | omitted. The difference from the embodiment is that the antenna that is connected to the high-frequency switch 28 and whose connection to the base station 21 is time-division controlled is the actual communication antenna 22 and the first and second vehicle detection antennas 24a and 24b. There are three of them. The first vehicle detection antenna 24a is provided on the side where the vehicle 27 (vehicle-mounted device 26) enters the parking lot, and the vehicle 27 "(vehicle-mounted device 26") exits the second vehicle detection antenna 24b. On the side.

  In the DSRC system 120, when a vehicle is detected by the first vehicle detection antenna 24a, an entrance process is performed in actual communication using the actual communication antenna 22. Further, in the actual communication using the actual communication antenna 22 after the vehicle is detected by the second vehicle detection antenna 24b, a settlement process is performed. The admission process and the payment process itself are the same as in the above-described embodiment. According to this modification, the same effects as those of the embodiment can be obtained, and it is effective in a parking lot having a common entrance / exit passage for the parking lot.

  In the embodiment, communication using the vehicle detection antenna 24 is used only for vehicle detection. Not limited to this, the server 40 that has acquired the WCN through the communication of the vehicle detection antenna 24 starts in advance as a pre-processing, such as a settlement process performed in the actual communication of the actual communication antenna 22, and the same in the communication of the actual communication antenna 22 When the WCN can be confirmed, the final process of the settlement process may be executed. At this time, the content of the pre-processing may be discarded when a predetermined time, for example, 10 seconds elapses after communication with the vehicle detection antenna 24. Furthermore, since the actual communication antenna 22 and the vehicle detection antenna 24 are communication-controlled in a time-sharing manner, if the vehicle detection antenna 24 can still acquire the same WCN as the target of the preprocessing, The timing of discarding the contents may be extended for a predetermined time. As described above, the process originally performed by actual communication is a distributed process, so that the process of entering or leaving the vehicle 27 can be performed more speedily.

  The embodiments of the present invention are summarized from the viewpoint of the processing process as follows. That is, a radio that performs DSRC communication with the vehicle-mounted device, a first antenna (vehicle detection antenna) that is connected to the radio and forms a predetermined first communication area (vehicle detection area), and the first communication A second antenna (actual communication antenna) that forms a predetermined second communication region (actual communication region) in a region different from the region, and the connection target of the wireless device is the first antenna or the second antenna An authentication method in a DSRC system that executes a predetermined application with the vehicle-mounted device, for example, a ticketing process or a checkout process for a parking lot, In the communication area, a code unique to the in-vehicle device (such as WCN) is acquired from the in-vehicle device, and a first vehicle detection step for detecting that the vehicle is present in the first communication region is the same as the code. Co A second vehicle detection step for detecting that the vehicle-mounted device having a mobile station has moved to the second communication region, and communication with the vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle that has entered the second communication region. The first vehicle detection step and the application execution step can be executed in a time-sharing manner in parallel.

It is a functional block diagram which shows the example which applied the DSRC system to a parking lot based on a prior art. It is a figure which shows typically the outline | summary which applied the DSRC system to the parking lot based on embodiment. It is a functional block diagram which shows the outline of the DSRC system based on embodiment. It is a functional block diagram which shows the outline of the DSRC system based on the modification of embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

20, 120 DSRC system 21 Base station 22 Actual communication antenna 23 Actual communication area 24 Vehicle detection antenna 24a First vehicle detection antenna 24b Second vehicle detection antenna 25 Vehicle detection area 26 Onboard equipment 27 Vehicle 28 High frequency switching Device 31 DSRC radio unit 32 communication interface 33 switching control unit 40 server 41 vehicle detection determination unit 42 ticketing place 43 ticketing settlement machine

Claims (1)

A radio that performs two-way communication with a mobile station, a first antenna that is connected to the radio and forms a predetermined first communication area, and a predetermined second communication area in an area different from the first communication area And a high-frequency switching unit that switches the connection target of the radio to the first antenna or the second antenna in a time-sharing manner, with a predetermined application between the mobile station and the mobile station. A wireless communication system to perform,
Detecting means for detecting that the mobile station is located in the first communication area;
When the mobile station detected in the first communication area is detected in the second communication area, the predetermined application is executed, and at the same time, the mobile station in the first communication area is A wireless communication system comprising: control means for executing processing to detect.

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