JP2010074335A - In-vehicle system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an "in-vehicle system" capable of shortening a time until the server access completion on an external WAN that substitutes a mobile phone network during connection quality deterioration with a high-speed wireless communication network. <P>SOLUTION: When a server access request is generated (b), server access 312 through a WAN connection by a mobile WiMAX is started. Then, when the electric field strength of radio waves received from a base station drops to be lower than a threshold Th before completing the server access, WAN connection processing 321 by dial up connection of a mobile phone is started. When the server access 312 fails due to a deterioration in the quality of the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX, server access 322 using the WAN connection by dial up connection of the mobile phone which has been established by at that time is started, and if the server access is completed, the WAN connection by the dial up connection is released (323). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for selecting a communication network used for communication with the outside in an in-vehicle system mounted on an automobile.

  In the in-vehicle system installed in the automobile, as a technology for communicating with the outside, a mobile telephone connected to the in-vehicle system (also referred to as a “mobile phone”) is used to connect to the mobile telephone network. A technique for communicating with an external server via a wireless LAN (for example, Patent Document 1), or a technique for connecting to an external access point via a wireless LAN and communicating with an external server via a wireless LAN (for example, Patent Document 1) 2) is known.

As a technique related to the present invention, a technique (for example, Patent Document 3) in which one of a mobile telephone network and a wireless LAN is selectively used for communication in a mobile communication terminal is also known. In this technique, when a wireless LAN can be connected, the wireless LAN is preferentially used.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-328580 JP 2003-308370 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-110751

In recent years, a relatively high-speed wireless communication network compatible with mobile communication called mobile WiMAX (IEEE802.16e) has been put into practical use. “WiMAX” is a registered trademark of “WiMAX Forum”.
Since mobile WiMAX enables higher-speed communication than communication using a mobile telephone network, it is preferable to use mobile WiMAX for communication with the outside rather than a mobile telephone network in an in-vehicle system.
However, at present, mobile WiMAX is not widely used, and there are areas where mobile WiMAX cannot be used.
For this reason, if a car moves to an area where mobile WiMAX cannot be used after initiating communication with a server on an external network using mobile WiMAX in the in-vehicle system, communication using mobile WiMAX will fail. Will end up. In this case, in the in-vehicle system, after communication using mobile WiMAX fails, if communication is performed with a server on an external network using the mobile telephone network, the mobile telephone network realized by dial-up connection is used. Since it takes a long time to connect to an external network using the network, there is a problem that it takes a long time to complete communication with the server.

  Therefore, the present invention is an in-vehicle system that uses a wireless communication network such as mobile WiMAX for communication with the outside, and after starting communication with a communication partner on the external network, the vehicle moves to an area where the wireless communication network cannot be used. In this case, it is an object to substitute the mobile telephone network in a shorter time so that the communication with the communication partner can be completed.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a mobile telephone interface for connecting to a mobile telephone that is dial-up connected to an external WAN via a mobile telephone network to an in-vehicle system mounted on an automobile, and a radio that is different from the mobile telephone network. A wireless communication device connected to an external WAN via a communication network, and controlling access to a server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device, and on the external WAN using the wireless communication device Access that controls access to a server on the external WAN using a dial-up connection of the mobile telephone connected to the mobile telephone interface to the external WAN when a failure to access the server occurs Control means, and in the access control means, a service on the external WAN using the wireless communication device. Dial-up connection with the external WAN to the mobile telephone connected to the mobile telephone interface when communication quality between the wireless communication apparatus and the wireless communication network deteriorates by a predetermined level or more during access processing to the mobile telephone The processing is started prior to the occurrence of a failure in access to the server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device.

  Here, such an in-vehicle system is provided with reception level detection means for detecting the electric field strength of the radio wave received from the wireless communication network by the wireless communication device, and the access control means detects the reception level detection means. The communication quality between the wireless communication device and the wireless communication network may be determined based on the electric field strength.

  In addition, in the in-vehicle system, in the access control means, when the communication quality between the wireless communication device and the wireless communication network is deteriorated by a predetermined level or more, the mobile telephone connected to the mobile telephone interface is connected to the mobile telephone interface. After starting the dial-up connection process with the external WAN, before the failure to access the server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device occurs, the wireless communication device and the wireless communication network The mobile telephone connected to the mobile telephone interface may be released from the dial-up connection with the external WAN when the communication quality of the mobile telephone returns to a good level over a predetermined level.

  According to such in-vehicle systems, communication quality between the wireless communication device and the wireless communication network is predetermined before failure of access to the server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device occurs. When the mobile telephone connected to the mobile telephone interface starts a dial-up connection process with the external WAN when the mobile telephone interface is deteriorated at a level or higher, it is possible to connect the server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device. When an access failure occurs, the server can be accessed quickly using the dial-up connection with the external WAN established by the dial-up connection process started in advance.

  Therefore, in an in-vehicle system that uses a wireless communication network for communication with the outside, after starting access to a server on the external WAN, when the vehicle moves to an area where the wireless communication network cannot be used, Access to the server can be completed in a shorter time than when dial-up connection processing is started after a failure has occurred.

  The above-described configuration of the in-vehicle system includes the first communication device dial-up connected to an external WAN via a mobile telephone network, and the second communication device connected to the WAN via a wireless communication network different from the mobile telephone network. And can be applied to a communication system that accesses any communication device on the WAN. That is, in this case, the access to the other communication device on the WAN using the second communication device is controlled, and the access to the other communication device on the WAN using the second communication device is performed. When a failure occurs, the communication system is provided with access control means for controlling access of the first communication device to another communication device on the WAN using a dial-up connection with the WAN, and the access control In the means, when the communication quality between the second communication device and the wireless communication network is deteriorated more than a predetermined level during the access processing to the other communication device on the WAN using the second communication device, Dial-up connection processing with the WAN is started for the first communication device prior to the occurrence of a failure to access the communication device on the WAN using the second communication device. It may be set to so that.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in an in-vehicle system that uses a wireless communication network such as mobile WiMAX for communication with the outside, after the vehicle starts communication with a communication partner on the external network, the automobile uses the wireless communication network. When moving to an unusable area, the mobile phone network can be substituted in a shorter time to complete communication with the communication partner.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
In FIG. 1, the structure of the vehicle-mounted system 100 which concerns on this embodiment is shown.
As shown in the figure, the in-vehicle system 100 is connected to the mobile phone 2 via short-range wireless communication or wired communication such as Bluetooth / IEEE802.15.1 ("Bluetooth" is a registered trademark of "The Bluetooth SIG Inc."). Mobile phone interface 111, mobile WiMAX interface 112 connected to WAN 300 such as the Internet via wireless communication using mobile WiMAX (IEEE802.16e), control unit 113, memory 114, display device 115, operation unit 116, GPS receiver 118, A navigation device 117 including a vehicle sensor 119 is provided.

Here, the vehicle sensor 119 is a sensor that detects various traveling states of the vehicle, such as a vehicle speed sensor and an angular velocity sensor. The mobile telephone 2 has a function of connecting to the WAN 300 via a mobile telephone network by dial-up connection.
In such an in-vehicle system 100, the control unit 113 performs data communication via the WAN 300 via the mobile WiMAX interface 112 and the mobile phone 2. Through this data communication, the control unit 113 receives various information such as traffic information from the information server 400 arranged on the WAN 300, for example.

  Next, the navigation device 117 is provided with map data, and based on the map data, the current position is calculated from the output of the GPS receiver 118 and the vehicle sensor 119, or the destination to be accepted by the operation unit 116 is recommended. A route is searched with reference to map data and set as a guidance route, or a guide image representing the current position, destination, and guidance route is displayed on the display device 115 on the map represented by the map data. . Here, the navigation device 117 searches for a route that can reach the destination in the shortest time as a guidance route in consideration of the occurrence of traffic congestion represented by the traffic information acquired by the control unit 113 from the information server 400. The recommended route to the destination is re-searched according to the change in the occurrence state of the traffic congestion represented by the traffic information and is reset as the guidance route. In addition, the navigation device 117 performs processing for displaying the occurrence state of the traffic jam represented by the traffic information on the guidance image.

In such an in-vehicle system 100, the control unit 113 performs access to various servers on the WAN 300 such as acquisition of traffic information from the information server 400 arranged on the WAN 300 described above, as shown in FIG. Execute by access processing.
That is, in this server access process, when a server access request is generated (step 202), it is checked whether the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is currently connectable to a mobile WiMAX base station (step 204), and connection is possible. For example, the mobile telephone 2 is controlled via the mobile telephone interface 111 to make a dial-up connection to the WAN 300 via the mobile telephone network (step 220), and access to the server is started using the WAN connection by the dial-up connection. (Step 230) If the access to the server is completed (Step 232), the WAN connection by dial-up connection is released (Step 218), and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 204 that connection to a mobile WiMAX base station is possible, the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is controlled to connect to the WAN 300 via the connectable base station (step 206). However, when the WAN connection by mobile WiMAX has already been performed, the process of step 206 does not need to be performed. Then, access to the server is started using WAN connection by mobile WiMAX (step 208).

  In a state where the WAN connection by dial-up connection has not been established or the WAN connection by dial-up connection has not been established, the electric field strength of the received radio wave at the mobile WiMAX interface 112 from all the base stations connectable at that time Occurrence of a state in which all are less than the threshold value Th (step 210) and WAN connection by dial-up connection is established or any one that can be connected at that time in a state of attempting to establish WAN connection by dial-up connection Occurrence of a state where the electric field intensity of the received radio wave from the base station of the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is equal to or greater than the threshold Th (step 212), occurrence of a failure to access the server (step 214), Occurrence of access completion (Step 2) 16) is monitored.

  Here, the mobile WiMAX can be handed over (transferred) to the base station, and the base station to which the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is connected during the WAN connection changes as the automobile moves. In Steps 210 and 212, the field strength of the received radio wave is determined. The base station connectable at that time is the mobile WiMAX interface 112, and the base station connected at that time is connected to the mobile WiMAX interface 112. Refers to a base station that can be switched. The threshold value Th is a value obtained by adding a predetermined margin to the electric field strength of the received radio waves that cannot be normally communicated with the base station by the mobile WiMAX interface 112.

  Now, in the state where the WAN connection by the dial-up connection is not established or the WAN connection by the dial-up connection is not established, the electric field strength of the received radio wave at the mobile WiMAX interface 112 from all the base stations that can be connected at that time If a situation occurs in which all are less than the threshold value Th (step 210), the mobile telephone 2 is started via the mobile telephone interface 111 and a dial-up connection is started to the WAN 300 via the mobile telephone network (step 222). Return to the monitoring of step 210-216.

  On the other hand, in the state where the WAN connection by the dial-up connection has been established or the WAN connection by the dial-up connection is being established during the monitoring of the step 210-216, the mobile station from any of the base stations that can be connected at that time When a situation occurs in which the electric field strength of the received radio wave at the WiMAX interface 112 is equal to or greater than the threshold Th (step 212), the mobile telephone 2 is dialed up via the mobile telephone interface 111 and the WAN 300 via the mobile telephone network is dialed up. The connection is released (step 224), and the process returns to the monitoring at step 210-216.

  On the other hand, if a failure to access the server occurs during the monitoring in steps 210-216 (step 214), the process proceeds to step 226. Here, the failure to access the server occurs when the quality of the WAN connection by mobile WiMAX deteriorates due to a decrease in the electric field strength of the received radio wave from the base station, and the response to the access request from the server cannot be received for a predetermined period or longer. It occurs in such as.

When the access to the server is completed during the monitoring at step 210-216 (step 216), if the WAN connection by dial-up connection is established, the WAN connection is released (step 216). 218), the process ends.
Next, if an access failure to the server occurs and the process proceeds from step 214 to step 226, it is determined whether the WAN connection by the dial-up connection is currently established or the WAN connection by the dial-up connection is being established. Check (step 226), if the WAN connection by the dial-up connection is established or if the WAN connection by the dial-up connection is being established (if the WAN connection by the dial-up connection is being established, the dial-up connection is established) After the WAN connection is established, access to the server is started using the WAN connection by dial-up connection (step 230). When the access to the server is completed (step 232), the WAN connection by dial-up connection is released (step 230). The -Up 218), the processing is terminated. On the other hand, if the WAN connection by the dial-up connection has not been established or if the WAN connection by the dial-up connection has not been established (step 226), the mobile telephone 2 is controlled via the mobile telephone interface 111 and the mobile telephone 2 is connected. After dial-up connection to the WAN 300 (step 228), access to the server is started using the WAN connection by dial-up connection (step 230). When access to the server is completed (step 232), the dial-up connection is performed. The WAN connection is released (step 218), and the process is terminated.

The server access process performed by the control unit 113 has been described above.
Next, an example of an access operation to the server on the WAN 300 by such server access processing will be described.
FIG. 3a shows a case where the mobile WiMAX interface 112 can be connected to the base station when a server access request occurs and the quality of the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX is well maintained during the period of server access. is there.
In this case, as shown in the figure, when the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is not established, first, the connection processing 301 to the WAN 300 by the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is performed, and if the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX is established, Server access 302 via the WAN connection is initiated. Then, the necessary data communication with the server is performed to complete the server access.

Next, FIG. 3B shows that the mobile WiMAX interface 112 can be connected to the base station when a server access request occurs, and the quality of the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX deteriorates during the server access period. It is about the case of failure.
In this case, when the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is not established, first, the connection processing 311 to the WAN 300 by the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is performed. If the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX is established, the WAN connection is established. Server access 312 is started.

Then, WAN connection processing 321 by dial-up connection of the mobile telephone 2 is started when the quality of the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX deteriorates due to the electric field strength of the received radio wave from the base station falling below the threshold value Th.
Then, if the server access 312 fails because the response from the server cannot be received for a predetermined period due to the deterioration of the quality of the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX, the dial-up of the mobile telephone 2 established up to that point Server access 322 using WAN connection by connection is started. Then, if the server access is completed by performing the desired data communication with the server, the WAN connection by the dial-up connection is released 323.

  Here, as shown in the figure, the WAN connection processing by dial-up connection of the mobile telephone 2 takes a relatively long time. Therefore, as shown in the figure, when the quality of the WAN connection by mobile WiMAX deteriorates due to a decrease in the electric field strength of the received radio wave from the base station to less than the threshold value Th, the mobile station moves before the server access failure occurs. Compared to the case where the WAN connection process by the dial-up connection of the mobile phone 2 is started after the WAN connection process by the dial-up connection of the telephone 2 is started, the server access 312 via the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX is failed. The time until access completion can be shortened.

  Next, FIG. 3c shows that when the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is connectable to the base station when the server access request is generated and the server access is being performed, the quality of the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX deteriorates. This is a case where the quality of WAN connection by mobile WiMAX returns to a good level before server access fails.

  In this case, when the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is not established, first, the connection processing 331 to the WAN 300 by the mobile WiMAX interface 112 is performed. If the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX is established, the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX is established. Server access 332 via is started.

  Then, when the quality of the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX deteriorates due to the electric field strength of the radio wave received from the base station falling below the threshold Th, the WAN connection processing 341 by the dial-up connection of the mobile phone 2 is started, and the dial-up A WAN connection is established by connection.

  After that, before the server access 332 via the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX fails, the quality of the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX is improved by returning the electric field strength of the received radio wave from the base station to the threshold value Th or higher. When returning to the level, the WAN connection by the dial-up connection of the mobile telephone 2 is released 342. Further, the server access 332 through the WAN connection by the mobile WiMAX is completed without failure.

  By the way, in the server access processing described above, when connection to a base station by mobile WiMAX cannot be performed (step 204) when a server access request is generated (step 202), dial-up connection processing of the mobile telephone 2 is performed in step 220. When the connection with the base station by mobile WiMAX becomes possible before the dial-up connection is completed, the dial-up connection is stopped, and the process proceeds to step 206 to establish the WAN connection by mobile WiMAX. Processing such as start of server access via WAN connection by mobile WiMAX (step 208) may be performed.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
In the above description, the application to the in-vehicle system 100 mounted on an automobile has been described as an example. However, the server access processing in the present embodiment includes WAN connection by dial-up connection via a mobile telephone network and WAN connection by mobile WiMAX. The present invention can be similarly applied to any communication system capable of performing both of the above. Further, the present invention can be similarly applied when accessing any communication device on the WAN 300 other than the server.

  The wireless communication network using mobile WiMAX in this embodiment may be replaced with an arbitrary wireless communication network other than the mobile telephone network, such as a wireless communication network using WiMAX or a wireless LAN.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the server access process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the process example of the server access process which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Mobile telephone, 100 ... In-vehicle system, 111 ... Mobile telephone interface, 112 ... Interface, 113 ... Control part, 114 ... Memory, 115 ... Display apparatus, 116 ... Operation part, 117 ... Navigation apparatus, 118 ... GPS receiver, 119 ... Vehicle sensor, 300 ... WAN, 400 ... Information server.

Claims (5)

An in-vehicle system installed in an automobile,
A mobile telephone interface for connecting to a mobile telephone for dial-up connection to an external WAN via a mobile telephone network;
A wireless communication device connected to an external WAN via a wireless communication network different from the mobile telephone network;
The mobile telephone is configured to control access to a server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device, and when an access failure to the server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device occurs. Access control means for controlling access to a server on the external WAN using a dial-up connection with the external WAN of the mobile telephone connected to an interface;
The access control means, when the communication quality between the wireless communication device and the wireless communication network is deteriorated by a predetermined level or more during access processing to the server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device, Causing the mobile telephone connected to the mobile telephone interface to start dial-up connection processing with the external WAN in advance of the failure of access to the server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device. An in-vehicle system characterized by this. The in-vehicle system according to claim 1,
The wireless communication device has reception level detection means for detecting electric field strength of radio waves received from the wireless communication network,
The in-vehicle system, wherein the access control means determines communication quality between the wireless communication apparatus and the wireless communication network based on the electric field strength detected by the reception level detecting means. The in-vehicle system according to claim 1 or 2,
When the communication quality between the wireless communication device and the wireless communication network is deteriorated by a predetermined level or more, the access control means is configured to perform dial-up connection processing with the external WAN on the mobile telephone connected to the mobile telephone interface. The communication quality between the wireless communication device and the wireless communication network is better than a predetermined level before failure of access to the server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device occurs. An in-vehicle system that causes the mobile telephone connected to the mobile telephone interface to release a dial-up connection with the external WAN when returning to a level. A communication system for accessing a communication device on an external WAN,
A first communication device for dial-up connection to the WAN via a mobile telephone network;
A second communication device connected to the WAN via a wireless communication network different from the mobile telephone network;
Controlling access to a communication device on the WAN using the second communication device, and when an access failure to another communication device on the WAN using the second communication device occurs, Access control means for controlling access to other communication devices on the WAN using a dial-up connection with the WAN of the first communication device;
The access control means, when the communication quality between the second communication device and the wireless communication network is deteriorated by a predetermined level or more during the access process to the other communication device on the WAN using the second communication device. And causing the first communication device to start dial-up connection processing with the WAN prior to the occurrence of a failure in access to another communication device on the WAN using the second communication device. A communication system. An automobile comprising a mobile telephone interface connected to a mobile telephone that is dial-up connected to an external WAN via a mobile telephone network, and a wireless communication device connected to an external WAN via a wireless communication network different from the mobile telephone network An access control method for controlling access to a server on the external WAN,
Initiating access to a server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device;
When the communication quality between the wireless communication device and the wireless communication network deteriorates by a predetermined level or more during the access processing to the server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device, the mobile phone interface is connected. Causing the mobile telephone to start dial-up connection processing with the external WAN;
The external telephone using a dial-up connection with the external WAN of the mobile telephone connected to the mobile telephone interface when a failure to access a server on the external WAN using the wireless communication device occurs Access control to a server on the WAN.