JP2012108039A - In-vehicle unit, toll collection system, and vehicle position estimation method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To estimate a position of a vehicle using a radio LAN access point even in a place where it is difficult to estimate a position of a vehicle using a radio LAN access point used for the public.SOLUTION: In a charging area, an original radio LAN access point is installed in such a manner as to support a public radio LAN access point used for the public. An in-vehicle unit 20 estimates a position of a vehicle on the basis of a public radio LAN-ID included in a radio wave transmitted from the public radio LAN access point and a public radio LAN installation position database, and estimates the position of the vehicle on the basis of an original radio LAN-ID included in a radio wave transmitted from the original radio LAN access point and an original radio LAN installation position database. A selector 30 then selects any one of the position of the vehicle estimated from the public radio LAN-ID and the position of the vehicle estimated from the original radio LAN-ID, as a current position of the vehicle.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted device, a toll collection system, and a vehicle position estimation method.

Conventionally, when a vehicle receives radio waves transmitted from a plurality of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites with an antenna, recognizes the position and traveling direction of the vehicle by a built-in GPS positioning device, and when the vehicle enters a charging area, On-board devices that pay a fee have been developed.
However, since vehicle position measurement using a GPS positioning device estimates the position by receiving radio waves transmitted from GPS satellites, in locations where the radio waves transmitted from GPS satellites such as tunnels cannot be received, The position cannot be estimated. In addition, there is a problem that the position estimation accuracy is lowered in places where radio waves are reflected such as in valleys of buildings or where the number of available GPS satellites is reduced.

  To solve this problem, instead of estimating the position using radio waves transmitted from GPS satellites, it is installed mainly for the purpose of connecting to the Internet via a so-called Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) wireless LAN (Local Area Network). Techniques have been developed for estimating the position using radio waves transmitted by a wireless LAN access point (hereinafter referred to as “public wireless LAN access point”) (see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

As a position estimation method using a radio wave transmitted by a public wireless LAN access point, for example, there are the following methods.
A radio wave transmitted by public wireless LAN access points scattered in urban areas includes a unique ID that can be uniquely identified, and any corresponding wireless LAN terminal can catch the radio wave and detect the ID. Can be identified. Accordingly, a provider (hereinafter referred to as a “position estimation service company”) that provides a location estimation service using radio waves transmitted by a public wireless LAN access point has the public wireless LAN access point ID and the public wireless LAN access point. A database is created in which position information indicating the installation positions is associated.

The database creation method includes the following methods, for example.
A vehicle equipped with an antenna travels in an urban area, captures radio waves transmitted by a public wireless LAN access point, and registers them in a database in association with location information specified in advance. The owner of the public wireless LAN access point itself registers the ID and position information in the database. Both the radio wave transmitted by the public wireless LAN access point and the radio wave transmitted by the GPS satellite can be received, and the terminal for estimating the position is provided with the function of registering the database, and the owner of the terminal registers it in the database.

  Then, the user of the location estimation service receives the radio wave transmitted by the public wireless LAN access point at the wireless LAN terminal that he / she owns, and refers to the database of the location estimation service company based on the ID to obtain his / her location. . In addition, the database reference method downloads the database in advance to the wireless LAN terminal, refers to the downloaded database, or stores the database in a server owned by the location estimation service company, and each time the location is estimated, for example, There is a method of referring to a database stored in a server via the Internet.

Special table 2008-519495 Special table 2010-509571 gazette

However, in places where public wireless LAN access points are not installed, such as in tunnels or underpasses, or where public wireless LAN access points are not densely installed, vehicles using radio waves transmitted by public wireless LAN access points are used. It may be impossible to estimate the position of.
Furthermore, even if a public wireless LAN access point is newly installed, registration in the database may be delayed if the person who installed it (business operator) is different from the location estimation service company. In such a case, the user cannot promptly receive the location estimation service reflecting the newly installed public wireless LAN access point.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and even in a place where it is difficult to estimate the position of a vehicle using a wireless LAN access point used by the public, a vehicle using a wireless LAN access point is used. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle-mounted device capable of estimating a position, a toll collection system, and a vehicle position estimating method.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the vehicle-mounted device, the toll collection system, and the vehicle position estimation method of the present invention employ the following means.

  That is, the vehicle-mounted device according to the present invention estimates the position of the vehicle using an identification signal for identifying a wireless LAN access point included in a radio wave transmitted from a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) access point. A radio wave transmitted from a first wireless LAN access point used by the public and a radio wave transmitted from a second wireless LAN access point installed so as to supplement the first wireless LAN access point. Receiving means for receiving; a first identification signal included in a radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point received by the receiving means; the first identification signal and the first wireless LAN access; First estimation means for estimating the position of the vehicle based on the first position information that associates the point installation position with each other And second estimation means for estimating the position of the vehicle based on a second identification signal included in the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point received by the reception means, and the first estimation Selecting means for selecting any one of the position of the vehicle estimated by the means and the position of the vehicle estimated by the second estimating means as the current position of the vehicle.

According to the present invention, the receiving means transmits the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point used by the public and the second wireless LAN access point installed so as to supplement the first wireless LAN access point. The transmitted radio wave is received.
The first wireless LAN access point is a wireless LAN access point that is installed mainly for the purpose of connecting to the Internet and can be used in a public place, and the second wireless LAN access point estimates the position of the vehicle. Therefore, it is a wireless LAN access point installed. The first wireless LAN access point and the second wireless LAN access point are the same in structure and function, although the purpose of installation is different. Therefore, the second wireless LAN access point can be used to connect to the Internet.

The “second wireless LAN access point installed so as to supplement the first wireless LAN access point” means that the second wireless LAN access point is in a region where the first wireless LAN access points are not densely installed. This means installing a LAN access point.
The position of the vehicle is estimated by the first estimating means based on the first identification signal and the first position information included in the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point received by the receiving means. The first position information is information in which the first identification signal is associated with the installation position of the first wireless LAN access point, and the installation position is indicated by latitude and longitude.
On the other hand, the position of the vehicle is estimated by the second estimating means based on the second identification signal included in the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point received by the receiving means.
Then, the selection means selects either the vehicle position estimated by the first estimation means or the vehicle position estimated by the second estimation means as the current position of the vehicle.

  As described above, the present invention estimates the position of the vehicle using the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point installed so as to supplement the first wireless LAN access point used by the public. Even in a place where it is difficult to estimate the position of the vehicle using a wireless LAN access point used by the public, the position of the vehicle using the wireless LAN access point can be estimated.

  In the vehicle-mounted device according to the present invention, when the selection unit receives only the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point by the reception unit, the position of the vehicle estimated by the first estimation unit. Is selected as the current position of the vehicle, and only the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point is received by the receiving means, the vehicle position estimated by the second estimating means is determined as the current position of the vehicle. If the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point is received together with the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point by the receiving means, the vehicle position estimation accuracy is higher. The position of the vehicle estimated based on the identification signal included in the radio wave may be selected as the current position of the vehicle.

According to the present invention, when only the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point is received by the receiving means, the position of the vehicle estimated by the first estimating means by the selecting means is set as the current position of the vehicle. Selected. Further, when only the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point is received by the receiving means, the position of the vehicle estimated by the second estimating means is selected by the selecting means as the current position of the vehicle.
Then, when the receiving means receives the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point together with the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point, the radio wave with higher estimation accuracy of the vehicle position by the selection means. The position of the vehicle estimated based on the identification signal included in is selected as the current position of the vehicle.

  As described above, the present invention provides a vehicle estimated by the first estimation unit or the second estimation unit according to the reception state of the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point and the second wireless LAN access point. Since either one of the positions is selected, the estimation accuracy of the position of the vehicle can be further increased.

  In the vehicle-mounted device of the present invention, the vehicle position estimation accuracy based on the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point and the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point is less than a predetermined accuracy. Storage means that stores information indicating the area to be, and when the position of the selected vehicle is included in the area indicated by the information stored in the storage means, the current position of the vehicle, You may select the position of the vehicle calculated based on the several position of the vehicle estimated in the past.

According to the present invention, the information indicating the region where the vehicle position estimation accuracy based on the radio wave transmitted from the wireless LAN access point is equal to or less than the predetermined accuracy is stored in the storage unit.
Then, when the position of the selected vehicle is included in the area indicated by the information, the selection unit selects the position of the vehicle calculated based on the plurality of positions of the vehicle estimated in the past as the current position of the vehicle. To do.
In other words, the selecting means determines the estimated vehicle position when the position of the vehicle estimated by the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point or the second wireless LAN access point is within the predetermined accuracy or less. It is determined that the position has low estimation accuracy and may be different from the actual position of the vehicle.
Note that the plurality of positions of the vehicle estimated in the past are the plurality of positions of the vehicle during a predetermined time before the current time. Then, the traveling direction and speed of the vehicle are calculated from the plurality of positions, and the current position of the vehicle is calculated based on the previously estimated position of the vehicle and the calculated traveling direction and speed of the vehicle.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the estimation accuracy of the position of the vehicle based on the radio wave transmitted from the wireless LAN access point is low, the position of the vehicle calculated based on the plurality of positions of the vehicle estimated in the past is used. Since it is selected as the current position of the vehicle, the estimation accuracy of the position of the vehicle can be further increased.

  In the vehicle-mounted device according to the present invention, the second estimating unit may include the second identification signal received by the receiving unit, the second identification signal, and an installation position of the second wireless LAN access point. The position of the vehicle may be estimated on the basis of the second position information associated with.

  According to the present invention, since the installation position of the second wireless LAN access point that has transmitted the radio wave received by the receiving means is estimated as the position of the vehicle, the position of the vehicle can be estimated with a simple configuration.

  In the vehicle-mounted device of the present invention, the second identification signal includes installation position information indicating an installation position of the second wireless LAN access point that has transmitted a radio wave including itself, and the second estimation unit includes: The position of the vehicle may be estimated based on the installation position information included in the second identification signal.

  According to the present invention, since the position of the vehicle is estimated only from the second identification signal, the position of the vehicle can be estimated with a simpler configuration.

  On the other hand, the toll collection system according to the present invention includes a first wireless LAN access point used by the public, and a second wireless LAN access point installed so as to supplement the first wireless LAN access point. An on-board device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is provided, and based on a position estimated by the on-board device, entry / exit information relating to entry / exit of a predetermined area to be charged is transmitted. And an information processing device that receives the entry / exit information transmitted from the vehicle and charges the vehicle that has transmitted the entry / exit information based on the entry / exit information.

  According to the present invention, the position of the vehicle is estimated using the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point installed so as to supplement the first wireless LAN access point used by the public. Even in a place where it is difficult to estimate the position of the vehicle using the used wireless LAN access point, it is possible to estimate the position of the vehicle using the wireless LAN access point.

  The vehicle position estimation method according to the present invention estimates a vehicle position using an identification signal for identifying a wireless LAN access point included in a radio wave transmitted from a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) access point. A method for estimating a position of a vehicle, comprising: a radio wave transmitted from a first wireless LAN access point used by the public; and a second wireless LAN access point installed so as to supplement the first wireless LAN access point A first step of receiving radio waves transmitted from the first wireless LAN, a first identification signal included in the received radio waves transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point, the first identification signal, and the first Based on the first position information that correlates with the installation position of the wireless LAN access point, the position of the vehicle is estimated and received. A second step of estimating the position of the vehicle based on the second identification signal included in the radio wave transmitted from the two wireless LAN access points; the position of the vehicle estimated from the first identification signal; and And a third step of selecting any one of the positions of the vehicle estimated from the second identification signal as the current position of the vehicle.

  According to the present invention, the position of the vehicle is estimated using the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point installed so as to supplement the first wireless LAN access point used by the public. Even in a place where it is difficult to estimate the position of the vehicle using the used wireless LAN access point, it is possible to estimate the position of the vehicle using the wireless LAN access point.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to estimate the position of a vehicle using a wireless LAN access point even in a place where it is difficult to estimate the position of the vehicle using a wireless LAN access point used by the public. .

It is a mimetic diagram showing a charge collection system concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the installation position of the public wireless LAN access point which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention, and an original wireless LAN access point. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the onboard equipment which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the position information selection program which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the original wireless LAN access point and onboard equipment which concern on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an onboard device, a toll collection system, and a vehicle position estimation method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a fee collection system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The toll collection system 10 is a system that charges a vehicle 12 traveling in a billing area A that is a predetermined area (area) that is subject to billing (road pricing (road billing)).

  The vehicle 12 is equipped with a vehicle-mounted device, and the vehicle-mounted device identifies the wireless LAN access point 14 transmitted from the wireless LAN access point 14 installed in and around the charging area A. Is used to estimate the position of the vehicle 12 and generate position information indicating the current position. The position information indicates the position of the vehicle 12 in latitude and longitude. Then, the vehicle-mounted device transmits travel information related to travel in the charging area to the charging center 16 based on the generated position information.

  The billing center 16 includes an information processing device 18. The information processing device 18 charges the vehicle 12 that has traveled in the charging area A based on the received position information. The billing center 16 may be provided in the billing area A or outside the billing area A.

  Here, the vehicle 12 estimates the position using radio waves transmitted by a wireless LAN access point (hereinafter referred to as a “public wireless LAN access point”) 14 </ b> A installed mainly for the purpose of Internet connection. However, in places where public wireless LAN access points 14A are not installed, such as in tunnels or underpasses, or where public wireless LAN access points 14A are not densely installed, radio waves transmitted by public wireless LAN access points are used. In some cases, the position of the existing vehicle 12 cannot be estimated.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, in the toll collection system 10 according to the first embodiment, the vehicle 12 is mainly used for a place where the public wireless LAN access point 14A is not installed or a place where the public wireless LAN access point 14A is not installed densely. A wireless LAN access point (hereinafter referred to as “unique wireless LAN access point”) 14B is installed.
The unique wireless LAN access point 14B has the same structure and function as the public wireless LAN access point 14A, although the installation purpose is different. The unique wireless LAN access point 14B can also be used to connect to the Internet. It is.

The radio waves transmitted by the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the unique wireless LAN access point 14B include a unique ID (identification signal) that can be uniquely identified, and the corresponding wireless LAN terminal (this first embodiment). In the form, the ID can be identified if it is a vehicle-mounted device). In the following description, an ID included in a radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A is referred to as a public wireless LAN-ID, and an ID included in a radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is a unique wireless LAN. -It is called ID.
Further, the business operator installing the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the business operator installing the unique wireless LAN access point 14B may be the same or different.
The area where the public wireless LAN access point 14A is installed is called a public wireless LAN position estimation area, and the area where the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is installed (the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the unique wireless LAN access point 14B. (Including a region in which both are installed) is referred to as a unique wireless LAN location estimation area.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 20 mounted on the vehicle 12.
The vehicle-mounted device 20 includes a reception unit 22, an ID identification unit 24, a public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26, a unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 28, a selection unit 30, a travel route derivation unit 32, a charging area entry / exit determination unit 34, And a transmission unit 36.

  The receiver 22 receives radio waves transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A and radio waves transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B.

  The ID identifying unit 24 detects an ID from the radio wave received by the receiving unit 22 and identifies whether the detected ID is a public wireless LAN-ID or a unique wireless LAN-ID. When the detected ID is a public wireless LAN-ID, the ID identifying unit 24 outputs the public wireless LAN-ID to the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 26. When the detected ID is a unique wireless LAN-ID, The unique wireless LAN-ID is output to the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 28.

The public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 estimates the position of the vehicle 12 based on the input public wireless LAN-ID and the public wireless LAN installation position database stored in the public wireless LAN installation position storage unit 38. .
The public wireless LAN installation location database is information in which the public wireless LAN-ID for each public wireless LAN access point 14A is associated with the installation location of the public wireless LAN access point 14A. The installation position is indicated by latitude and longitude.
For this reason, the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 26 reads the installation position corresponding to the input public wireless LAN-ID, and estimates the read installation position as the position of the vehicle 12. Then, the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 outputs information indicating the estimated position of the vehicle 12 (hereinafter referred to as “public wireless LAN-vehicle position information”) to the selection unit 30.

  The public wireless LAN installation location database is a database created by a provider (position estimation service company) that provides a location estimation service using radio waves transmitted by the public wireless LAN access point 14A. For this reason, the public wireless LAN installation location database stored in the public wireless LAN installation location storage unit 38 is appropriately updated based on information distributed by the location estimation service company.

The public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 derives the reliability of the radio wave transmitted from the received public wireless LAN access point 14A. The reliability of radio waves is, for example, the distance from the public wireless LAN access point 14 to the estimated position of the vehicle 12, the degree of fluctuation of radio wave reception intensity (hereinafter referred to as “radio wave reception intensity”), and S / N. Derived from at least one detected value of the ratio. For example, the reliability is higher as the distance from the public wireless LAN access point 14 to the estimated position of the vehicle 12 is shorter, the reliability is higher as the degree of fluctuation of the radio wave reception intensity is smaller, and the reliability is lower as the S / N ratio is smaller. Is expensive. Note that the reliability may be derived by adding a plurality of the detected values, or the reliability may be derived by adding a plurality of weights to a predetermined detected value.
The radio wave reception intensity together with the derived reliability is included in the public wireless LAN-vehicle position information as radio wave information.

The unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 28 estimates the position of the vehicle 12 based on the input unique wireless LAN-ID and the unique wireless LAN installation position database stored in the unique wireless LAN installation position storage unit 40. .
The unique wireless LAN installation position database is information in which the unique wireless LAN-ID for each unique wireless LAN access point 14B is associated with the installation position of the unique wireless LAN access point 14B. The installation position is indicated by latitude and longitude.
Therefore, the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 28 reads the installation position corresponding to the input unique wireless LAN-ID, and estimates the read installation position as the position of the vehicle 12. Then, the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 28 outputs information indicating the estimated position of the vehicle 12 (hereinafter referred to as “unique wireless LAN-vehicle position information”) to the selecting unit 30.

The unique wireless LAN installation position database is a database created by a dedicated business operator who has installed the unique wireless LAN access point 14B and which associates the unique wireless LAN-ID with the installation position of the unique wireless LAN access point 14B. .
For this reason, the unique wireless LAN installation position database stored in the unique wireless LAN installation position storage unit 40 is appropriately updated based on information transmitted by the dedicated business operator.
Here, since the public wireless LAN access point 14 may be installed by a plurality of different operators or the like, the update of the public wireless LAN installation location database by the location estimation service company is actually performed by the public wireless LAN access point 14. It may be later than the time of installation. On the other hand, since the unique wireless LAN installation location database is created by a dedicated business operator who has installed the unique wireless LAN access point 14B, the unique wireless LAN installation location information is updated without delay.
The above-described relationship between the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the location estimation service company and the relationship between the unique wireless LAN access point 14B and the dedicated operator are examples.

  The unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 28 derives the reliability of the radio wave transmitted from the received unique wireless LAN access point 14B, as with the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 26. The radio wave reception intensity together with the derived reliability is included as radio wave information in the unique wireless LAN-vehicle position information.

The selection unit 30 uses any one of the position of the vehicle 12 indicated by the input public wireless LAN-vehicle position information and the position of the vehicle 12 indicated by the unique wireless LAN-vehicle position information as the current position of the vehicle 12. select.
Note that the selection unit 30 according to the first embodiment has the vehicle 12 estimated by the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 when only the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A is received by the reception unit 22. Is selected as the current position of the vehicle 12.
In addition, when only the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is received by the receiving unit 22, the selection unit 30 determines the position of the vehicle 12 estimated by the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 28. Select as current position.
Further, when the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is received together with the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A by the receiving unit 22, the selection unit 30 is more accurate in estimating the position of the vehicle 12. The position of the vehicle 12 estimated based on the ID included in the high radio wave is selected as the current position of the vehicle 12.
Then, the selection unit 30 outputs the selected current position as current position information to the travel route deriving unit 32.

The position estimation accuracy storage unit 42 is a low-accuracy region where the estimation accuracy of the position of the vehicle 12 based on the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A or the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is equal to or less than a predetermined accuracy. Is stored. The low-accuracy area is an area where the reliability of radio waves and radio wave reception intensity are low, or a public wireless LAN access point 14A or a unique wireless LAN access point 14B is installed in an area where a plurality of buildings are lined up. This is a region where the same radio waves are received from a plurality of paths and reflected from each other, thereby interfering with each other and reducing accuracy.
The low-accuracy region is specified in advance by actually measuring radio waves transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the unique wireless LAN access point 14B, and an estimated accuracy measurement database based on the specified low-accuracy region. Is created.

  When the position of the vehicle 12 estimated by the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A or the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is within the low accuracy region, the selection unit 30 determines that the estimated position of the vehicle 12 is The estimation accuracy is low, and it is determined that there is a possibility that it is different from the actual position of the vehicle 12.

The travel route deriving unit 32 derives the travel route of the vehicle 12 based on the input current position information. Specifically, the traveling route deriving unit 32 associates the latitude and longitude indicated by the current position information with the time at which the current position information is estimated, thereby obtaining a change with time in the position of the vehicle 12, thereby The driving route is derived. The derived travel route is stored in the travel route storage unit 44 as travel route information. The travel route deriving unit 32 updates the travel route information every time the current position information is input.
In addition, the travel route deriving unit 32 outputs the current position information output from the selection unit 30 to the charging area entry / exit determination unit 34.

The charging area entry / exit determination unit 34 determines whether the vehicle 12 has entered or exited the charging area based on the current position of the vehicle 12 indicated by the input current position information.
Specifically, the billing area entry / exit determination unit 34 compares the billing area information indicating the billing area A stored in the billing area information storage unit 46 with latitude and longitude, and the current position information. A position and time when the vehicle 12 enters the charging area A from outside the charging area A is specified, and a position and time when the vehicle 12 leaves the charging area A from the charging area A are specified. Then, the charging area entry / exit determination unit 34, when the vehicle 12 leaves the charging area A, the time when the vehicle 12 enters the charging area A, the time when the vehicle 12 leaves the charging area A, and the vehicle 12 is charged. Information related to entry / exit of the billing area such as the distance traveled in the area A (hereinafter referred to as “entrance / exit information”) is output to the transmission unit 36.

The transmission unit 36 transmits the entered entry / exit information to the charging center 16.
The charging center 16 calculates a charging amount to be charged as a road usage fee in the charging area A to the vehicle 12 (user of the vehicle 12) that transmitted the entry / exit information based on the received entry / exit information. Note that the calculated charge amount is deducted from, for example, an account of an account number of a financial institution of a user of the vehicle 12 registered in advance.

Next, the operation of the vehicle-mounted device 20 according to the first embodiment will be described.
In the following description of the operation, the receiving unit 22 receives a radio wave transmitted from at least one of the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the unique wireless LAN access point 14B, and the selection unit 30 uses the current position information as a travel route. The process until output to the deriving unit 32 will be described.

First, the case where the receiving unit 22 receives only radio waves transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A will be described.
When the reception unit 22 receives a radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A, the public wireless LAN-ID is transmitted to the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 via the ID identification unit 24.
The public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 estimates the position of the vehicle 12 based on the input public wireless LAN-ID and the public wireless LAN installation position database stored in the public wireless LAN installation position storage unit 38. The public wireless LAN-vehicle position information is output to the selection unit 30.

  Here, in the selection unit 30, the position of the vehicle 12 indicated by the public wireless LAN-vehicle position information is included in the low accuracy region indicated by the estimation accuracy measurement database stored in the position estimation accuracy storage unit 42. If so, the current position calculation process is executed.

The current position calculation process is a process for calculating the position of the vehicle 12 based on a plurality of positions of the vehicle 12 estimated in the past. The plurality of positions of the vehicle 12 estimated in the past are a plurality of positions of the vehicle 12 between a current time and a predetermined time before, and are read from the travel route information stored in the travel route storage unit 44.
Then, the current position calculation process calculates the motion information of the vehicle 12 (the traveling direction and speed of the vehicle 12) from the plurality of read positions, and based on the previously estimated position information of the vehicle 12 and the calculated motion information, The position of the vehicle 12 is calculated.

When executing the current position calculation process, the selection unit 30 selects the position of the vehicle 12 calculated by the current position calculation process as the current position of the vehicle 12.
Then, the selection unit 30 outputs current position information indicating the selected current position to the travel route deriving unit 32.

  On the other hand, the case where the receiving unit 22 receives only the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is the same as the case where the receiving unit 22 receives only the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A. Since there is, explanation is omitted.

Next, a case where the receiving unit 22 receives a radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B together with a radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A will be described.
When the receiving unit 22 receives the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B together with the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A, the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 determines the vehicle based on the public wireless LAN-ID. The position of the vehicle 12 is estimated, and the position of the vehicle 12 is estimated by the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 28 based on the unique wireless LAN-ID.
Then, when the public wireless LAN vehicle position information is input from the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 and the unique wireless LAN vehicle position information is input from the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 28 to the selection unit 30. The selection unit 30 executes position information selection processing.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the position information selection program executed by the selection unit 30 when the position information selection process is executed. The position information selection program is a predetermined storage unit included in the selection unit 30. Pre-stored in the area.

  First, in step 100, predetermined information is read from the input public wireless LAN-vehicle position information. The predetermined information is the position of the vehicle 12 estimated by the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26, and the reliability and radio wave reception intensity of the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A.

In the next step 102, predetermined information is read from the input unique wireless LAN-vehicle position information. The predetermined information is the position of the vehicle 12 estimated by the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 28, and the reliability and the received wave intensity of the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B.
It should be noted that the processing order of step 100 and step 102 may be reversed or simultaneous.

  In the next step 104, all of the reliability and radio wave reception intensity of the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the reliability and radio wave reception intensity of the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B are determined in advance. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 106. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 108.

  In step 106, the current position calculation process is executed, the position of the vehicle 12 calculated by the current position calculation process is selected as the current position, and the process proceeds to step 114.

In step 108, the reliability and radio wave reception intensity of the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A are compared with the radio wave reliability and radio wave reception intensity of the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B. The position of the vehicle 12 estimated based on the ID included in the radio wave having a high radio wave reception intensity is selected as the current position.
If one radio wave is more reliable than the other radio wave but the radio wave reception intensity is lower than the other radio wave, for example, the vehicle 12 estimated based on the ID included in the radio wave with high reliability is used. The position may be selected as the current position, or the position of the vehicle 12 estimated based on the ID included in the radio wave having high radio wave reception intensity may be selected as the current position.

  In the next step 110, an inquiry process based on the estimated accuracy measurement database is performed. That is, the current position selected in step 108 and the low accuracy area indicated by the estimated accuracy measurement database are inquired.

In the next step 112, it is determined whether or not the current position is included in the low accuracy region. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 106. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 114.
When the process proceeds from step 112 to step 106, the position of the vehicle 12 calculated by the current position calculation process is selected as the current position without selecting the position of the vehicle 12 selected in step 108 as the current position.

  In step 114, current position information indicating the selected current position is output to the travel route deriving unit 32, and the program is terminated.

As described above, the vehicle-mounted device 20 according to the first embodiment is configured such that the receiver 22 is installed so as to supplement the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the public wireless LAN access point 14A. A radio wave transmitted from the LAN access point 14B is received. Then, the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 determines the position of the vehicle 12 based on the public wireless LAN-ID included in the received radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the public wireless LAN installation position database. presume. On the other hand, the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 28 determines the position of the vehicle 12 based on the unique wireless LAN-ID included in the received radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B and the unique wireless LAN installation position database. Is estimated.
Thereafter, the selection unit 30 selects either the position of the vehicle 12 estimated by the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 or the position of the vehicle 12 estimated by the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 28. Select as current position.

  Thereby, the vehicle-mounted device 20 according to the first embodiment can estimate the position of the vehicle 12 even in a place where it is difficult to estimate the position of the vehicle 12 by the public wireless LAN access point 14A.

  Since the vehicle-mounted device 20 according to the first embodiment estimates the installation position of the unique wireless LAN access point 14B that has transmitted the radio wave received by the receiving unit 22 as the position of the vehicle 12, the vehicle 12 can be configured with a simple configuration. Can be estimated.

In addition, the selection unit 30 according to the first embodiment, when the reception unit 22 receives only the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A, the vehicle 12 estimated by the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26. Is selected as the current position of the vehicle 12. In addition, when only the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is received by the receiving unit 22, the selecting unit 30 determines the position of the vehicle 12 estimated by the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 28. Select as current position.
When the reception unit 22 receives a radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B together with a radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A, the selection unit 30 has higher estimation accuracy of the position of the vehicle 12. The position of the vehicle 12 estimated based on the ID included in the radio wave is selected as the current position of the vehicle 12.

  As described above, the vehicle-mounted device 20 according to the first embodiment is configured so that the public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 26 or Since either one of the positions of the vehicle 12 estimated by the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 28 is selected, the estimation accuracy of the position of the vehicle 12 can be further increased.

  In addition, the vehicle-mounted device 20 according to the first embodiment has a predetermined accuracy of estimating the position of the vehicle 12 based on the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B. A position estimation accuracy storage unit 42 that stores an estimation accuracy measurement database indicating a low accuracy area that is less than or equal to the accuracy is provided. When the position of the selected vehicle 12 is included in the low accuracy region indicated by the estimation accuracy measurement database, the selection unit 30 is based on a plurality of positions of the vehicle 12 estimated in the past as the current position of the vehicle 12. The calculated position of the vehicle 12 is selected.

  As described above, the present invention is estimated in the past when the estimation accuracy of the position of the vehicle 12 based on the radio wave transmitted from the public wireless LAN access point 14A and the radio wave transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is low. Since the position of the vehicle 12 calculated based on the plurality of positions of the vehicle 12 is selected as the current position of the vehicle 12, the estimation accuracy of the position of the vehicle 12 can be further increased.

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The configuration of the fee collection system 10 according to the second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the fee collection system 10 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG.
The unique wireless LAN-ID according to the second embodiment is an SSID (Service Set ID) including installation position information indicating the installation position of the unique wireless LAN access point 14B that has transmitted a radio wave including itself. The installation position of the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is indicated by latitude and longitude.
In the following description, the unique wireless LAN-ID including the installation position information is referred to as a unique wireless LAN-SSID.

FIG. 5 shows configurations of the unique wireless LAN access point 14B and the vehicle-mounted device 20 according to the second embodiment. 5 that are the same as those in FIG. 3 are assigned the same reference numerals as in FIG. 3 and descriptions thereof are omitted.
The unique wireless LAN access point 14B includes a position information storage unit 50, a time information output unit 52, an encryption key storage unit 54, an encryption processing unit 56, and a transmission unit 58.

  The position information storage unit 50 stores installation position information indicating the installation position of the unique wireless LAN access point 14B.

  The time information output unit 52 outputs time information indicating the current time to the encryption processing unit 56.

  The encryption key storage unit 54 stores key information serving as a key for performing encryption.

The encryption processing unit 56 reads the installation position information from the position information storage unit 50 and encrypts the time information input together with the read installation position information using the key information stored in the encryption key storage unit 54. A unique wireless LAN-SSID is generated.
Here, it is assumed that the forged SSID is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 20. However, as in the second embodiment, the unique wireless LAN access point 14B transmits the unique wireless LAN-SSID in which the time information is added to the installation position information, so that the vehicle-mounted device 20 according to the second embodiment is Depending on the presence or absence of the time information, the forged SSID and the unique wireless LAN-SSID can be distinguished, and the effect of preventing forgery of the SSID can be obtained.
As an encryption method, any conventionally known encryption method may be used.

  The transmission unit 58 transmits the unique wireless LAN-SSID generated by the encryption processing unit 56.

  On the other hand, the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimation unit 28 included in the vehicle-mounted device 20 includes an encryption key storage unit 60 and a decryption processing unit 62.

  The encryption key storage unit 60 stores key information corresponding to the encryption key stored in the encryption key storage unit 54.

The decryption processing unit 62 decrypts the unique wireless LAN-SSID received by the reception unit 22 and input via the ID identification unit 24 using the encryption key stored in the encryption key storage unit 60.
Furthermore, the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 28 determines whether or not the SSID for identifying whether or not the time information is included in the decoded SSID is transmitted from the unique wireless LAN access point 14B. Determine. When the received SSID does not include aging information, that is, when it is determined that the received SSID is forged, the vehicle-mounted device 20 receives the received SSID via the transmission unit 58. Information indicating that the information has been forged is sent to the charging center 16 or the like.
Then, the unique wireless LAN vehicle position estimating unit 28 estimates the installation position of the unique wireless LAN access point 14B indicated by the installation position information obtained by decoding the unique wireless LAN-SSID as the position of the vehicle 12. .

As described above, the unique wireless LAN access point 14B according to the second embodiment transmits the installation position information indicating the installation position in the unique wireless LAN-SSID, and transmits the vehicle-mounted device 20 according to the second embodiment. Since the position of the vehicle 12 is estimated only from the unique wireless LAN-SSID, it is not necessary to include the unique wireless LAN installation position storage unit 40 as in the vehicle-mounted device 20 according to the first embodiment, and thus a simpler configuration. The position of the vehicle can be estimated.
Moreover, since the vehicle-mounted device 20 does not require a unique wireless LAN installation position database as in the first embodiment, the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is used immediately after the unique wireless LAN access point 14B is installed. The position of the vehicle 12 can be estimated.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using said each embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. Various changes or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiments without departing from the gist of the invention, and embodiments to which the changes or improvements are added are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Charge collection system 12 Vehicle 14A Public wireless LAN access point 14B Original wireless LAN access point 16 Charging center 20 Onboard equipment 22 Receiving part 26 Public wireless LAN vehicle position estimation part 28 Original wireless LAN vehicle position estimation part 30 Selection part 42 Position estimation accuracy Storage

Claims (7)

A vehicle-mounted device for estimating a position of a vehicle using an identification signal for identifying a wireless LAN access point included in a radio wave transmitted from a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) access point,
Receiving means for receiving radio waves transmitted from a first wireless LAN access point used by the public and radio waves transmitted from a second wireless LAN access point installed so as to supplement the first wireless LAN access point When,
The first identification signal included in the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point received by the receiving means, the first identification signal, and the installation position of the first wireless LAN access point First estimation means for estimating the position of the vehicle based on the associated first position information;
Second estimating means for estimating the position of the vehicle based on a second identification signal included in the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point received by the receiving means;
Selection means for selecting one of the vehicle position estimated by the first estimation means and the vehicle position estimated by the second estimation means as the current position of the vehicle;
In-vehicle device equipped with.   The selection means, when only the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point is received by the reception means, selects the position of the vehicle estimated by the first estimation means as the current position of the vehicle, When only the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point is received by the receiving means, the vehicle position estimated by the second estimating means is selected as the current position of the vehicle, and the receiving means When a radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point is received together with a radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point, based on an identification signal included in the radio wave with higher vehicle position estimation accuracy. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the estimated position of the vehicle is selected as a current position of the vehicle. Stores information indicating an area where the vehicle position estimation accuracy based on the radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point and the radio wave transmitted from the second wireless LAN access point is below a predetermined accuracy. Storage means,
When the position of the selected vehicle is included in the area indicated by the information stored in the storage unit, the selection unit is calculated based on a plurality of previously estimated positions of the vehicle as the current position of the vehicle. The on-vehicle device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the position of the selected vehicle is selected.   The second estimating means uses the second position information associated with the second identification signal received by the receiving means, the second identification signal, and the installation position of the second wireless LAN access point. The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a position of the vehicle is estimated based on the vehicle. The second identification signal includes installation position information indicating an installation position of the second wireless LAN access point that has transmitted a radio wave including itself,
4. The vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1, wherein the second estimating unit estimates a position of the vehicle based on the installation position information included in the second identification signal. 5. A first wireless LAN access point used by the public;
A second wireless LAN access point installed to supplement the first wireless LAN access point;
Entry / exit information about entry / exit of a predetermined area to be charged based on a position estimated by the OBE, comprising the on-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Vehicle to send
An information processing apparatus that receives the entry / exit information transmitted from the vehicle and charges the vehicle that has transmitted the entry / exit information based on the entry / exit information;
Toll collection system with A vehicle position estimation method for estimating the position of a vehicle using an identification signal for identifying a wireless LAN access point included in a radio wave transmitted from a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) access point,
A first radio wave transmitted from a first wireless LAN access point used by the public and a second radio LAN access point installed so as to supplement the first wireless LAN access point. Process,
The first identification signal included in the received radio wave transmitted from the first wireless LAN access point, and the first identification signal associated with the installation position of the first wireless LAN access point are associated with each other. 1st process which estimates the position of a vehicle based on 1 position information, and estimates the position of a vehicle based on the 2nd identification signal contained in the received electromagnetic wave transmitted from the 2nd wireless LAN access point When,
A third step of selecting any one of the position of the vehicle estimated from the first identification signal and the position of the vehicle estimated from the second identification signal as a current position of the vehicle;
A vehicle position estimation method including:

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