JP2012147047A - Information processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing unit which can reduce the possibility of acquisition leakage of a communication signal when at least any one of a light source in the transmission source or a light receiving unit on the reception side is moving, and can shorten the communication speed of optical communication and the processing time of received light without depending on the number of photoelectric elements.SOLUTION: In an information processing unit 1, acquisition means 3 acquires an electric signal converted by a given photoelectric element 6 out of a plurality of photoelectric elements 6. Control means 4 determines a photoelectric element 6 which received the light transmitted from the light source in the transmission source based on the amount of charges converted into an electric signal. After acquiring the electric signal of a given photoelectric element 6 out of a plurality of photoelectric elements 6, a determination is made from which of the photoelectric elements 6 contiguous to the given photoelectric element 6 an electric signal is acquired based on the given conditions, and then the acquisition means 3 is controlled to acquire the electric signal of the photoelectric element 6 thus determined.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus including a plurality of photoelectric elements and capable of optical communication.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image sensor is known as an information processing apparatus in which a plurality of photoelectric elements that convert a charge amount corresponding to a received light amount into an electrical signal are arranged in a matrix (Patent Document 1). Such an image sensor generally scans sequentially in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction with respect to a matrix arrangement of a plurality of photoelectric elements, acquires electric signals of all the photoelectric elements, and converts them into imaging data. is there.

  The image sensor can also be used as a receiver for optical communication that performs communication by converting information to be transmitted into blinking light. Even in this case, the image sensor sequentially scans in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction to acquire electric signals of all the photoelectric elements. For this reason, it is necessary to make the light blinking interval of the light source of the transmission source longer than the time necessary for the process of acquiring the electric signals of all the photoelectric elements. Therefore, the maximum communication speed of optical communication decreases with an increase in the number of photoelectric elements and an increase in processing time for acquiring electric signals of all photoelectric elements.

JP 2003-169251 A

  However, for example, when an image sensor is used as the information processing apparatus, it is required to increase the number of photoelectric elements in order to increase the number of pixels for the purpose of improving the quality of captured data. In that case, the time required for the process of acquiring the electrical signals of all the photoelectric elements increases, leading to a decrease in communication speed.

  Further, when the time required for the process of acquiring the electrical signal increases, when the light source of the transmission source and the light receiving unit on the reception side are moving, the light of the light source of the transmission is shifted to a position outside the photoelectric element. As a result, there is a possibility that an acquisition failure of the communication signal occurs.

  Therefore, the present invention reduces the possibility of communication signal acquisition omission when at least one of the light source of the transmission source and the light receiving unit on the reception side is moving, and the communication speed and light reception of optical communication. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus capable of shortening the processing time of light without depending on the number of photoelectric elements.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a photoelectric conversion unit in which a plurality of photoelectric elements that convert an amount of charge according to a received light amount of light transmitted from a transmission source light source as a communication signal into an electric signal, and a plurality of photoelectric elements. An acquisition means for acquiring an electric signal converted by a predetermined photoelectric element among the elements, and a photoelectric element that receives light transmitted from a light source of a transmission source among the plurality of photoelectric elements to an electric charge amount converted into an electric signal Control means for controlling the acquisition means so as to acquire an electric signal converted by the determined photoelectric element, and the control means is an electric signal of a predetermined photoelectric element among the plurality of photoelectric elements. Is obtained based on a predetermined condition to determine which electric signal of the photoelectric element adjacent to the predetermined photoelectric element is acquired, and to acquire the electric signal of the determined photoelectric element And controlling.

  According to the present invention, the control means acquires which electric signal of the photoelectric element adjacent to the predetermined photoelectric element after the acquisition means acquires the electric signal of the predetermined photoelectric element among the plurality of photoelectric elements. Next, in order to obtain the electrical signals of the determined photoelectric elements, the electrical signals of the desired photoelectric elements can be obtained without obtaining the electrical signals of all the photoelectric elements as in the prior art. It becomes.

  As a result, the time for acquiring the electrical signal of the photoelectric element that receives light transmitted from the light source of the transmission source can be shortened, and the processing time does not depend on the number of photoelectric elements. In addition, since the time for acquiring the electrical signal of the photoelectric element that receives the light transmitted from the light source of the transmission source can be shortened, the light blinking interval of the light source of the transmission source can be shortened, and the communication speed of optical communication Can be improved.

  Further, even when the light source of the transmission source and the light receiving unit on the reception side are moving, the acquisition unit is configured to be able to acquire any one electrical signal of the photoelectric element adjacent to the predetermined photoelectric element. Therefore, it can follow so that any one of a plurality of photoelectric elements may receive light. For this reason, the possibility of acquisition failure of the communication signal can be reduced.

  In the present invention, a plurality of photoelectric elements are arranged in a matrix, and the acquisition means is adjacent to the predetermined photoelectric element in the vertical and horizontal directions after acquiring an electrical signal of the predetermined photoelectric element among the plurality of photoelectric elements. It is preferable that any one of the photoelectric elements can be obtained. According to this, by arranging a plurality of photoelectric elements in a matrix, the number of photoelectric elements per predetermined area becomes constant, and even if the photoelectric elements that receive light from the light source change, light reception is stabilized. be able to.

  In the present invention, the acquisition means can switch a shift direction of an acquisition signal having two values, ie, a value indicating acquiring an electric signal and a value indicating not acquiring an electric signal, between a forward direction and a reverse direction. Two reversible shift registers, one of the reversible shift registers is a vertical shift register that can shift the acquired signal in both the up and down directions with respect to the matrix arrangement, and the other of the reversible shift register is the left and right direction with respect to the matrix arrangement Left and right shift registers, each stage of the vertical shift register corresponds to each row in the vertical direction of the matrix, each stage of the left and right shift register corresponds to each column in the horizontal direction of the matrix, and a plurality of photoelectric elements Each photoelectric device is a combination of each stage of the up / down shift register and each stage of the left / right shift register. The control means corresponds to each of the up / down shift registers and the up / down shift registers and the left / right shift register stages corresponding to the determined photoelectric elements so that values representing the acquisition of the electrical signals are received. It is preferable to control the left / right shift register.

  According to this, since the acquisition means is constituted by two reversible shift registers, it is not necessary to acquire the electric signals of all the photoelectric elements even when changing the photoelectric elements for acquiring the electric signals, and the vertical shift is performed. The matrix can be freely changed in the vertical direction of the matrix, and the horizontal shift register can be freely changed in the horizontal direction of the matrix. Accordingly, it is possible to shorten the time for acquiring the electrical signal of the photoelectric element that receives light transmitted from the light source of the transmission source, and it is possible to improve the communication speed of optical communication.

  In the present invention, the control means, when newly determining a photoelectric element that has received light transmitted from the light source of the transmission source, a plurality of photoelectric elements arranged at the periphery of the photoelectric element determined at the present time It is preferable to determine based on each charge amount of the photoelectric element. The charge amount of the photoelectric element that has received the light from the light source is larger than the charge amount of the photoelectric element that has received the light that is not the light source. Further, in the present invention, since the time for acquiring the electrical signal of the photoelectric element that receives the light transmitted from the light source of the transmission source can be shortened, the moving distance of the position of the transmission source light source or the photoelectric element is also shortened. Therefore, the electric signals of all the photoelectric elements are acquired by determining the photoelectric elements from which the next electric signal is acquired based on the respective charge amounts of the plurality of photoelectric elements arranged around the currently determined photoelectric element. Compared to the device, it is possible to reduce the time until determination and to select an appropriate photoelectric element.

Explanatory drawing which shows the system configuration | structure of a vehicle provided with the receiver as an information processing apparatus of embodiment of this invention, and a transmitter. Explanatory drawing which shows the detail of the information processing apparatus of this embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the detail of the acquisition means of this embodiment. The flowchart which shows the communication process performed by the control means of this embodiment.

  With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of an optical communication system of a vehicle in which an optical communication receiver is configured by an image sensor as an information processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the information processing apparatus 1.

  The vehicle can perform optical communication (hereinafter referred to as “inter-vehicle communication”) with another vehicle having the same function. Further, the vehicle has an automatic traveling function, and the traveling speed of the vehicle, the strength and timing of the brake, the steering angle, and the like are controlled so that the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle ahead is appropriate.

  An information processing apparatus 1 mounted on a vehicle includes a photoelectric conversion unit 2, an acquisition unit 3, a control unit 4, and a light emitting unit 5.

  The photoelectric conversion means 2 includes a plurality of photoelectric elements 6 that convert an electric charge amount corresponding to the amount of received light into an electric signal. These photoelectric elements 6 are arranged in X rows in the left-right direction (horizontal direction) and in the vertical direction (vertical direction). Are arranged in a matrix of Y rows (X and Y are natural numbers). In the present embodiment, the photoelectric element 6 is constituted by a photodiode. However, the photoelectric element 6 is not limited to this, and the photoelectric element 6 can convert a charge amount corresponding to the amount of received light into an electric signal. That's fine.

  The acquisition unit 3 acquires a plurality of electrical signals converted by the plurality of photoelectric elements 6. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the acquisition unit 3 includes two reversible shift registers 31 and 32 that can switch a shift direction of an acquisition signal indicating whether or not to acquire an electrical signal between a forward direction and a reverse direction. It consists of The acquired signal is a digital signal represented by two types of values: LOW (hereinafter referred to as “L”; L is 0 [V], for example) and HIGH (hereinafter referred to as “H”; H is 5 [V], for example). It is. When the value of the acquisition signal is L, it indicates that an electric signal is not acquired, and when it is H, it indicates that an electric signal is acquired.

  Of the two reversible shift registers 31, 32, one reversible shift register 31 is a vertical shift register that can be shifted in both the vertical direction with respect to the matrix arrangement of the plurality of photoelectric elements 6, and the other reversible shift register 32 is a plurality of reversible shift registers 32. The left and right shift registers are capable of shifting in both the left and right directions with respect to the matrix arrangement of the photoelectric elements 6.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a reversible shift register used for the up / down shift register 31 and the left / right shift register 32. FIG. 3 shows an example of an N-stage shift register (N is a natural number). In the reversible shift register, a clock signal CLK in which L and H are repeatedly output at a constant period, a shift direction control signal FB for controlling whether to shift in the forward direction or the reverse direction, and a forward input signal FIN and reverse direction input signal BIN are input. In addition, acquisition signals are output from the output terminals Q of the N D flip-flops DFF1 to DFFN as outputs of the respective stages of the shift register. Here, in FIG. 3, the right direction is the forward direction and the left direction is the reverse direction. Also, the input / output signals of the reversible shift register are all L or H.

  The shift direction control signal FB represents a forward direction when H and a reverse direction when L. When the shift direction control signal FB is H (forward direction), the forward input signal FIN is input to the reversible shift register, and when the shift direction control signal FB is L (reverse direction), the reverse The direction input signal BIN is input to the reversible shift register.

  The reversible shift register connects a plurality of so-called D flip-flops that output the value input to the input terminal D from the output terminal Q when the input clock signal CLK changes from 0 to 1. It is composed of that. Each D flip-flop DFF1 to DFFN corresponds to each stage of the reversible shift register. That is, when the reversible shift register is the upper and lower flip-flops 31, each D flip-flop DFF1 to DFFN corresponds to each row arranged in the matrix of the plurality of photoelectric elements 6, and when the left and right flip-flops 32 are each D The flip-flops DFF1 to DFFN correspond to the respective columns arranged in the matrix of the plurality of photoelectric elements 6.

  Further, as described above, since the plurality of photoelectric elements 6 are arranged in a matrix of X columns in the left-right direction and Y rows in the up-down direction, the up-down shift register 31 is configured as a Y-stage reversible shift register. The shift register 32 is composed of an X-stage reversible shift register. Therefore, N in FIG. 3 is Y in the up / down shift register 31 and X in the left / right shift register 32.

  In the forward direction, in the forward direction, the first (leftmost in FIG. 3) D flip-flop is the first stage, and then the D flip-flop shifted by one stage in the forward direction is the second stage. That is, in FIG. 3, the number of stages increases as the right D flip-flop. Further, the number of stages does not depend on the value of the shift direction control signal FB.

  The same clock signal CLK and the same shift direction control signal FB are input to all the D flip-flops DFF1 to DFFN at the same timing. The outputs of the forward three-state buffers TBF1 to TBFN and the outputs of the reverse three-state buffers TBB1 to TBBN are connected to input terminals D of the D flip-flops DFF1 to DFFN, respectively.

  Here, the forward three-state buffers TBF1 to TBFN are configured to output an input signal when the shift direction control signal FB is H and not to output an input signal when the shift direction control signal FB is L. Yes. The reverse three-state buffers TBB1 to TBBN are configured to output no input signal when the shift direction control signal FB is H and to output an input signal when the shift direction control signal FB is L. Yes.

  The same shift direction control signal FB is input to the forward three-state buffers TBF1 to TBFN and the reverse three-state buffers TBB1 to TBBN at the same timing. As a result, only one of the forward three-state buffers TBF1 to TBFN or the reverse three-state buffers TBB1 to TBBN is input to the input terminals D of the D flip-flops DFF1 to DFFN.

  The input terminal D of the D flip-flop DFF1 of the first stage (first stage) and the “forward input signal FIN” input through the first stage forward three-state buffer TBF1 and the first stage backward use The “output of the output terminal Q of the second-stage D flip-flop DFF2” input via the three-state buffer TBB1 is connected and input exclusively by the shift direction control signal FB.

  One forward direction corresponding to each stage among the three-state buffers TBF2 to TBFN-1 for the forward direction is connected to the input terminal D of the second stage D flip-flop DFF2 to the second-stage D flip-flop DFFN-1. One reverse three-state buffer corresponding to each stage of "output of output terminal Q of previous stage D flip-flop" and reverse three-state buffers TBB2 to TBBN-1 input via the three-state buffer Is connected to “the output of the output terminal Q of the D flip-flop of the next stage” and is exclusively input by the shift direction control signal FB. Here, when the current stage is n stages, the previous stage is n-1 stages and the next stage is n + 1 stages.

  The input terminal D of the last stage (Nth stage) D flip-flop DFFN is inputted via the Nth stage forward three-state buffer TBFN “the second stage D flip-flop DFFN-1 from the last stage. The “output terminal Q output” is connected to the “reverse input signal BIN” input via the N-th reverse three-state buffer TBBN, and is exclusively input by the shift direction control signal FB.

  By configuring the reversible shift register in this way, when the clock signal CLK changes from L to H when the shift direction control signal FB is H (forward direction), each acquisition signal is shifted in the forward direction, that is, to the next stage, When the shift direction control signal FB is L (reverse direction), when the clock signal CLK changes from L to H, each acquired signal is shifted in the reverse direction, that is, the preceding stage. Therefore, the shift direction of the reversible shift register can be controlled by controlling the shift direction control signal FB to H or L.

  In the present embodiment, the vertical shift register 31 has a downward direction in FIG. 2 as a forward direction, and the left / right shift register 32 has a forward direction in the right direction of FIG.

  A switching element composed of a transistor or the like is connected to the output terminal Q of each D flip-flop of the vertical shift register 31 and the horizontal shift register 32. The switching element becomes conductive when the output of the connected output terminal Q, that is, the acquisition signal is H (when an electric signal converted by the photoelectric element is acquired), and when it is L (converted by the photoelectric element). (When no electrical signal is acquired).

  Returning to FIG. 1, the control unit 4 controls the acquisition unit 3 and the light emitting unit 5. The control means 4 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes various arithmetic processes and a storage device (memory) that includes a ROM and a RAM that store arithmetic results and the like. Various electric signals such as the converted electric signal are input, and a control signal is output to the outside based on a calculation result or the like. Further, the control means 4 decodes the electrical signal converted by the photoelectric element 6 as communication information when performing optical communication, and converts the electrical signal converted by the photoelectric element 6 into imaging data when imaging. . For this reason, the information processing apparatus 1 as an image sensor can be used as an optical communication apparatus or an imaging apparatus.

  The control unit 4 sends a clock signal CLK for the up / down shift register 31, a shift direction control signal FB for the up / down shift register 31, and a forward direction input for the up / down shift register 31 to the up / down shift register 31 of the acquisition unit 3. The signal FIN and the reverse direction input signal BIN for the up / down shift register 31 are output as control signals. Further, the control means 4 makes the clock signal CLK for the left / right shift register 32, the shift direction control signal FB for the left / right shift register 32, and the order for the left / right shift register 32 to the left / right shift register 32 of the acquisition means 3. The direction input signal FIN and the reverse direction input signal BIN for the left / right shift register 32 are output as control signals. The control means 4 can control signals independently of the up / down shift register 31 and the left / right shift register 32.

  The control means 4 is an intersection of the stage where the output is H when the output of any one stage of the up / down shift register 31 and any one stage of the left / right shift register 32 is H. It is electrically connected so that the electric signal of the photoelectric element 6 can be acquired.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the output of the second stage of the vertical shift register 31 is H and the output of the other stage is L, and the output of the third stage of the left and right shift register 32 is H and the other stage. When the output of L is L, the switching element connected to the stage outputting H of the up / down shift register 31 and the left / right shift register 32 is turned on, so that a path as indicated by a broken arrow in FIG. Is formed in the information processing apparatus 1. As a result, the control means 4 can acquire the electrical signal of the photoelectric element A located at the intersection of the stages outputting H of the vertical shift register 31 and the horizontal shift register 32.

  The light emitting unit 5 is configured by an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and is used as a transmission device for optical communication. The light emitting unit 5 is turned on and off by the control means 4. The control unit 4 encodes information to be transmitted into data represented by 1 or 0, and controls the light emitting unit 5 to be turned on when it is 1 and turned off when it is 0, for example. The information to be transmitted is transmitted by blinking 5. In addition, the light emission part 5 does not need to be visible light, For example, what is necessary is just the light which can communicate like infrared rays.

  Two vehicles 10 and 20 provided with information processor 1 constituted as mentioned above perform communication between vehicles. Although the configuration of the other vehicle 20 is omitted in FIG. 1, the configuration is actually the same as that of the host vehicle 10. The host vehicle 10 runs behind the other vehicle 20, and the traveling state (running speed, brake strength and timing, steering angle, etc.) of the other vehicle 20 is transmitted by the flashing of the light emitting unit 5 of the other vehicle 20. . In the own vehicle 10, the photoelectric element 6 of the own vehicle 10 that has received the light from the light emitting unit 5 of the other vehicle 20 converts the electric signal into an electric signal, and the control means 4 of the own vehicle 10 decodes this electric signal. Get the running status.

  The vehicles 10 and 20 include the information processing apparatus 1 described above, a drive source 11, a steering 12 that operates a steering angle, a brake 13 that performs braking, and a transmission 14 that changes the rotational speed output from the drive source 11. And an electronic control unit (ECU) 15.

  The electronic control unit 15 controls the operation of the drive source 11, the steering 12, the brake 13, and the transmission 14. The electronic control unit 15 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes various types of arithmetic processing, and a storage device (memory) that includes a ROM and a RAM that store arithmetic results and the like. Various electric signals such as a control signal output from the control means 4 are input, and a control signal is output to the outside based on a calculation result or the like.

  The automatic traveling function of the vehicles 10 and 20 is realized by controlling the drive source 11, the steering wheel 12, the brake 13, and the transmission 14 by the electronic control unit 15. The electronic control unit 15 performs control based on the electrical signal output from the control unit 4 based on the electrical signal converted by the photoelectric element 6. For example, when the distance to the other vehicle 20 becomes short, the brake 13 is operated to reduce the traveling speed. In addition to the output of the control means 4, the road information stored in the memory of the electronic control unit 15, the map information such as the maximum traveling speed, the traffic signal status received by the wireless communication device (not shown), etc. Based on this, the running and stopping of the vehicle are controlled.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the process of the control means 4 when the information processing apparatus 1 performs optical communication will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of optical communication executed by the control means 4 of the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the vehicle described as the subject will be described as the own vehicle 10 and the other vehicle will be described as the other vehicle 20.

  In the first step ST1, the control means 4 of the host vehicle 10 determines the position of the photoelectric element 6 that receives light as a communication signal from the transmission source light source (the light emitting unit 5 of the other vehicle 20). In this case, the information processing apparatus 1 is used as an imaging apparatus. The control means 4 images the light emission part 5 of the other vehicle 20 located ahead and converts it into imaging data. This imaged data is displayed on a display device (not shown) of the host vehicle 10 to prompt the input of the position of the transmission source light source by a pointing device (not shown) or the like. Thus, the photoelectric element 6 corresponding to the input position is determined as the position of the photoelectric element 6 that receives the light from the transmission source light source.

  And the control means 4 is controlled so that the electrical signal of the position of the determined photoelectric element 6 can be acquired. As an example of this control, the case where the determined photoelectric element 6 is the photoelectric element A located in the second row and the third column in FIG. 2 will be described. At present, all stages of the up / down shift register 31 and the left / right shift register 32 output L. From this state, the control means 4 performs control so that the second stage of the up / down shift register 31 and the third stage of the left / right shift register 32 output H and the other stages output L.

  First, H is output to the shift direction control signal FB for the up / down shift register 31 to make the shift direction forward. Then, H is output to the forward signal FIN for the up / down shift register 31 and one clock signal CLK for the up / down shift register 31 is output. Then, the output of the forward signal FIN for the up / down shift register 31 is changed from H to H. The clock signal CLK for the up / down shift register 31 is output by one clock. As a result, the vertical shift register 31 is in a state in which only the second stage outputs H and the other stages output L.

  In parallel with this, H is output to the shift direction control signal FB for the left / right shift register 32 to make the shift direction forward, and H is output to the forward direction signal FIN for the left / right shift register 32. After outputting one clock signal CLK for the shift register 32, the output of the forward signal FIN for the left and right shift register 32 is changed from H to L, and two clock signals CLK for the left and right shift register 32 are output. . As a result, the left / right shift register 32 is in a state where only the third stage outputs H and the other stages output L.

  As described above, as shown in FIG. 2, the switching element connected to the second stage of the up / down shift register 31 and the switching element connected to the third stage of the left / right shift register 32 become conductive, and the control means 4 Can acquire the electrical signal of the photoelectric element A.

  In the subsequent processing, the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment prioritizes the communication function, and is therefore used only as an optical communication apparatus, not as an imaging apparatus.

  Next, it progresses to step ST2 and receives communication information. Here, in step ST1, the control means 4 of the own vehicle 10 decodes the electrical signal converted by the photoelectric element 6 determined as the photoelectric element 6 that receives light from the transmission source light source as communication information. In the present embodiment, the process up to “decoding communication information” is defined as “reception of communication information”.

  Next, it progresses to step ST3 and a process is performed based on the communication information received by step ST2. When the communication information is, for example, information that “the other vehicle 20 traveling in front has actuated the brake 13”, the brake of the host vehicle 10 is maintained in order to maintain the inter-vehicle distance from the other vehicle 20. A control signal is output to the electronic control unit 15 so as to activate the control unit 13. Further, when the communication information is, for example, information that “the traveling speed of the other vehicle 20 has been increased”, the electronic control is performed so that the output of the drive source 11 of the own vehicle 10 is improved and the traveling speed is increased. A control signal is output to the device 15. At this time, if necessary, a control signal for changing the transmission ratio of the transmission 14 is output.

  The process of step ST3 is not limited to the automatic travel control of the host vehicle 10. For example, when the content of the communication information from the other vehicle 20 requests the traveling state of the host vehicle 10 (traveling speed, brake strength and timing, steering angle, etc.), to collect traveling state information In addition, the traveling state is acquired from the electronic control unit 15.

  Next, it progresses to step ST4 and the communication information transmitted to the other vehicle 20 is produced | generated. For example, information on the traveling state of the host vehicle 10 is acquired from the electronic control unit 15 and the information is encoded into data represented by 1 or 0 by a predetermined encoding process. Next, it progresses to step ST5 and controls lighting and extinction of the light emission part 5 of the own vehicle 10 according to the communication information represented by 1 or 0 produced | generated by step ST4.

  Next, the process proceeds to step ST6, and an electrical signal of the photoelectric element 6 arranged around the photoelectric element 6 (the current photoelectric element 6) that received the communication information in step ST2 is acquired. For example, when it is determined in step ST1 that the photoelectric element A receives light from the transmission source light source, eight photoelectric elements B, C, D, E, F, G, and H arranged around the photoelectric element A are used. , I electrical signals are acquired. For example, the electrical signal of the photoelectric element E is acquired, and then the electrical signal of the photoelectric element B → C → D → F → I → H → G is acquired in the clockwise direction.

  At this time, since the electrical signal of the photoelectric element A is being acquired, the second stage of the up / down shift register 31 is H and the third stage of the left / right shift register 32 is H. In order to obtain the electrical signal of the photoelectric element E arranged on the left side in FIG. 2 from this state, the control means 4 sets the vertical shift register 31 to the same second stage as the current time, and the left / right shift register 32 is reversed. Shift one step in the direction and set the second step to H. For this purpose, the control means 4 sets the shift direction control signal FB for the left / right shift register 32 to L (shift direction is reverse), and outputs the clock signal CLK for the left / right shift register 32 by one clock. Thereby, the control means 4 can acquire the electrical signal of the photoelectric element E located in the second row and the second column.

  Next, in order to obtain the electrical signal of the photoelectric element B arranged above the photoelectric element E, the control means 4 shifts the vertical shift register 31 by one stage in the reverse direction to set the first stage to H, The left / right shift register 32 sets the second stage, which is the same as the current stage, to H. For this purpose, the control means 4 sets the shift direction control signal FB for the up / down shift register 31 to L and outputs one clock of the clock signal CLK for the up / down shift register 31. Thereby, the control means 4 can acquire the electrical signal of the photoelectric element B located in the first row and the second column.

  Next, in order to obtain the electrical signal of the photoelectric element C arranged on the right side of the photoelectric element B, the control means 4 sets the vertical shift register 31 to H, which is the same as the current stage, and sets the horizontal shift register 32 to Shift one step in the forward direction and set the third step to H. For this purpose, the control means 4 sets the shift direction control signal FB for the left / right shift register 32 to H and outputs one clock of the clock signal CLK for the left / right shift register 32. Thereby, the control means 4 can acquire the electrical signal of the photoelectric element C located in the first row and the third column.

  Next, in order to obtain the electrical signal of the photoelectric element D arranged on the right side of the photoelectric element C, the control means 4 sets the vertical shift register 31 to H, which is the same as the current stage, and sets the horizontal shift register 32 to Shift one step in the forward direction and set the fourth step to H. For this purpose, the control means 4 sets the shift direction control signal FB for the left / right shift register 32 to the same H as the present time, and outputs one clock of the clock signal CLK for the left / right shift register 32. Thereby, the control means 4 can acquire the electrical signal of the photoelectric element D located in the first row and the fourth column.

  Next, in order to obtain an electric signal of the photoelectric element F arranged below the photoelectric element D, the control means 4 shifts the vertical shift register 31 by one stage in the forward direction to set the second stage to H, The left / right shift register 32 sets the same 4th stage as the present time to H. For this purpose, the control means 4 sets the shift direction control signal FB for the up / down shift register 31 to H and outputs one clock of the clock signal CLK for the up / down shift register 31. Thereby, the control means 4 can acquire the electrical signal of the photoelectric element F located in the second row and the fourth column.

  Next, in order to obtain an electric signal of the photoelectric element I arranged below the photoelectric element F, the control means 4 shifts the vertical shift register 31 by one stage in the forward direction to set the third stage to H, The left / right shift register 32 sets the same 4th stage as the present time to H. For this purpose, the control means 4 sets the shift direction control signal FB for the up / down shift register 31 to the same H as the current time, and outputs the clock signal CLK for the up / down shift register 31 by one clock. Thereby, the control means 4 can acquire the electrical signal of the photoelectric element I located in the third row and the fourth column.

  Next, in order to obtain an electrical signal of the photoelectric element H arranged on the left side of the photoelectric element I, the control means 4 sets the vertical shift register 31 to H in the same third stage as the current time, and sets the horizontal shift register 32 to Shift one step in the reverse direction and set the third step to H. For this purpose, the control means 4 sets the shift direction control signal FB for the left / right shift register 32 to L and outputs one clock of the clock signal CLK for the left / right shift register 32. Thereby, the control means 4 can acquire the electrical signal of the photoelectric element H located in the third row and the third column.

  Next, in order to obtain the electrical signal of the photoelectric element G arranged on the left side of the photoelectric element H, the control means 4 sets the vertical shift register 31 to H, which is the same as the current stage, and sets the left / right shift register 32 to Shift one step in the reverse direction and set the second step to H. For this purpose, the control means 4 sets the shift direction control signal FB for the left / right shift register 32 to the same L as the present time, and outputs one clock of the clock signal CLK for the left / right shift register 32. Thereby, the control means 4 can acquire the electrical signal of the photoelectric element G located in the third row and the second column.

  As described above, the control unit 4 acquires the electrical signal of the photoelectric element 6 arranged around the light source element 6 that is currently determined as the position of the transmission source light source.

  Next, proceeding to step ST7, the electrical signals of the respective photoelectric elements 6 (eight photoelectric elements B to I in the example of FIG. 2) and the current photoelectric element 6 (photoelectric element A in the example of FIG. 2) obtained in step ST6. Thus, the photoelectric element 6 representing the maximum charge amount is determined as the next “photoelectric element 6 that receives light as a communication signal from the transmission source light source”.

  For example, the photoelectric element 6 that receives light from the current transmission source light source is determined as the photoelectric element A, and the photoelectric element I is the next “photoelectric element 6 that receives light as a communication signal from the transmission source light source”. In some cases, the up / down shift register 31 shifts one stage in the forward direction to set the third stage to H, and the left / right shift register 32 shifts one stage in the forward direction to set the fourth stage to H. For this purpose, the shift direction control signal FB for the up / down shift register 31 and the shift direction control signal FB for the left / right shift register 32 are set to H, and the clock signal CLK for the up / down shift register 31 and the clock signal CLK for the left / right shift register 32 are set. Is output for one clock. As a result, the electrical signal of the photoelectric element I located in the third row and the fourth column can be acquired, and the optical communication is enabled when the photoelectric element I receives the communication signal.

  In this example, the electric signal of the photoelectric element I is acquired from the photoelectric element A via the photoelectric element F. However, the electric signal of the photoelectric element I is acquired via the photoelectric element H instead of the photoelectric element F. May be. These may be shifted in the horizontal direction after the vertical shift is performed first, or may be controlled independently in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Further, the transition may be made through a photoelectric element having a larger received light amount. It suffices if the amount of processing can be reduced (basically in the shortest distance) from “photoelectric element 6 that receives light from the current transmission source light source” to “photoelectric element 6 that receives light from the next transmission source light source”.

  In step ST7, “photoelectric element 6 that receives light from the next transmission source light source” is determined, and “photoelectric element 6 that receives light from the current transmission source light source” is changed to “light from the next transmission source light source”. The process of deciding which photoelectric element to transition to the “photoelectric element 6 that receives light” is performed according to the present invention “after obtaining an electrical signal of a predetermined photoelectric element among a plurality of photoelectric elements, This corresponds to the process of “deciding which electrical signal of the adjacent photoelectric element is to be acquired based on a predetermined condition and controlling the acquisition means to acquire the electrical signal from the determined photoelectric element”.

  Next, it progresses to step ST8 and it is determined whether communication was complete | finished. This determination is made when communication is terminated when, for example, communication information indicating that communication is terminated is transmitted from the other vehicle 20, or when the operation of the drive source 11 is stopped in order for the own vehicle 20 to terminate traveling. In other cases, the communication is not terminated.

  If the communication is not terminated by the determination in step ST8 (if the determination result in step ST8 is NO), the process returns to step ST2. When the process returns to step ST2 after the determination in step ST8, the photoelectric element 6 that receives light from the transmission source light source is not the photoelectric element 6 determined in step ST1, but the photoelectric element determined in step ST7 in the subsequent processing. 6 is used.

  When the communication is terminated by the determination in step ST8 (when the determination result in step ST8 is YES), this control process is terminated.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus 1 as the image sensor according to the present embodiment has two reversible shifts that can change the shift direction of the acquisition unit 3 that acquires the electrical signal of the photoelectric element in both the forward direction and the reverse direction. The registers 31 and 32 are used. For this reason, the photoelectric device 6 for acquiring an electric signal can be changed at a higher speed than the conventional configuration in which the acquisition means is configured to be shiftable in a predetermined horizontal direction and vertical direction, that is, only in one direction. .

  For example, when acquiring the electrical signal of the photoelectric element E from the photoelectric element A shown in FIG. 2, conventionally, after shifting the stage of the left / right shift register 32 that outputs H from 3 stages to X stages, The stage of the up / down shift register 31 for outputting is shifted from the second stage to the Y stage, and then the stage of the left / right shift register 32 for outputting H by shifting the up / down shift register 31 for outputting H from the first stage to the second stage. Is shifted from the first stage to the second stage.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, the shift direction control signal FB for the left / right shift register 32 is set to L, and the stage of the left / right shift register 32 that outputs H only needs to be shifted in the reverse direction from three to two. The amount can be greatly reduced. For this reason, the electric signal of the photoelectric element 6 that receives light as a communication signal of the transmission source light source can be acquired at high speed without depending on the number of photoelectric elements.

  Therefore, when the light source of the transmission source (the light emitting unit 5 of the other vehicle 20) or the light receiving unit of the receiving side (the photoelectric conversion means 2 of the own vehicle 10) is moving, the photoelectric receiving the light of the light source of the transmission source Even if the element 6 changes in a short time, the change of the photoelectric element 6 that acquires the electric signal can be processed at high speed, and the electric signal can be acquired at high speed.

  In addition, since the time for acquiring the electrical signal of the photoelectric element 6 that receives the light transmitted from the light source of the transmission source (the light emitting unit 5 of the other vehicle 20) can be shortened, the light blinking interval of the light source of the transmission source is shortened. And the communication speed of optical communication can be improved.

  In addition, since the acquisition unit 3 includes the up / down shift register 31 and the left / right shift register 32 that can shift in both directions, it is not necessary to acquire the electrical signals of all the photoelectric elements. For this reason, the time for acquiring the electrical signal of the photoelectric element that receives light transmitted from the light source of the transmission source can be shortened, and the processing time does not depend on the number of photoelectric elements.

  Even when the light source of the transmission source (the light emitting unit 5 of the other vehicle 20) and the light receiving unit of the receiving side (the photoelectric conversion unit 2 of the own vehicle 10) are moving, the vertical shift register 31 and the left and right of the acquisition unit 3 Since the shift register 32 is configured to acquire any one electrical signal of the photoelectric elements adjacent to the predetermined photoelectric element in the upper, lower, left, and right directions, any one of the plurality of photoelectric elements 6 can follow the light. . For this reason, the possibility of acquisition failure of the communication signal can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, in the processing after step ST2, the communication function is prioritized, so that it is not used as an imaging device but only as an optical communication device. In general, in the case of an image sensor that can process imaging and optical communication, imaging and optical communication can be performed in parallel. In this case, the process of acquiring the electrical signals of all the photoelectric elements described above is generally performed alternately by “conversion to imaging data” and “optical communication acquisition process”. As a result, the number of times of “conversion to imaging data” and “acquisition processing of optical communication” per unit time is halved. Therefore, when imaging and optical communication are performed in parallel, the imaging data As the quality of the network deteriorates, the communication speed is halved. Therefore, a decrease in communication speed can be avoided by using it only as an optical communication device in the processing after step ST2.

  In the present embodiment, when determining the position of the photoelectric element 6 that receives the light of the transmission source light source in step ST1, an operator or the like inputs the position of the transmission source light source (the light emitting unit 5 of the other vehicle 20). However, it is not limited to this. For example, the control unit 4 may automatically recognize the position of the transmission source light source by an image recognition technique such as pattern matching. In this case, imaging data of the transmission source light source may be converted into template data and stored in the memory, and detected by matching with imaging data obtained by imaging in the process of step ST1.

  In addition, when the vehicles 10 and 20 start automatic traveling under the control of the control means 4, they continue to transmit a predetermined blinking pattern as communication information, and this blinking pattern is detected when the position of the light emitting unit 5 is detected. Alternatively, the photoelectric element 6 receiving the light may be detected. In this case, when the vehicles 10 and 20 detect the position of the light emitting unit 5 with each other, the predetermined blinking pattern is stopped. By these, an operator's effort can be reduced and the operativity of the information processing apparatus 1 can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, in step ST6, the electrical signal of the photoelectric element 6 (the current photoelectric element 6) arranged around the photoelectric element 6 that has received the communication information is acquired. For example, when the present photoelectric element 6 is the photoelectric element A, the electric signals of eight photoelectric elements B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I arranged next to the photoelectric element A are acquired. However, it is not limited to this. In addition to the photoelectric element 6 arranged next to the photoelectric element A, an electric signal of the photoelectric element 6 arranged next to the photoelectric element A may be acquired. In addition, the faster the movement, the wider the surrounding area may be. The range of the photoelectric elements 6 arranged in the periphery can be tracked so that any one of the plurality of photoelectric elements 6 can receive light by moving the position of the light source on the transmission source or the light receiving unit on the reception side, depending on the operating state. It only has to be.

  In this embodiment, the next photoelectric element is determined by the photoelectric element having the maximum charge amount in step ST7, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in consideration of a case where the charge amount instantaneously increases due to disturbance, the maximum value of the average value of the previous charge amount and the current charge amount of each photoelectric element may be determined. Further, when the difference between the previous charge amount and the current charge amount is remarkably large, this photoelectric element may be excluded as an increase due to disturbance. Here, the disturbance is, for example, when sunlight or the like enters.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the information processing apparatus 1 was mounted in the vehicle which communicates between vehicles, it is not restricted to this. This can be applied when the position of the light source on the transmission source or the light receiving unit on the reception side moves.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information processing apparatus, 2 ... Photoelectric conversion means, 3 ... Acquisition means, 31 ... Vertical shift register, 32 ... Left / right shift register, 4 ... Control means, 6 ... Photoelectric element.

Claims (4)

A photoelectric conversion means in which a plurality of photoelectric elements that convert an amount of electric charge according to the amount of light received from a light source as a communication signal into an electric signal are arranged;
Obtaining means for obtaining an electrical signal converted by a predetermined photoelectric element among the plurality of photoelectric elements;
The photoelectric element that has received light transmitted from the light source of the transmission source among the plurality of photoelectric elements is determined based on the amount of charge converted into the electrical signal, and the electrical signal converted by the determined photoelectric element Control means for controlling the acquisition means so as to acquire
The control means acquires, based on a predetermined condition, an electrical signal of a photoelectric element adjacent to the predetermined photoelectric element after acquiring an electrical signal of the predetermined photoelectric element among the plurality of photoelectric elements. An information processing apparatus that determines and controls the acquisition unit to acquire an electrical signal of the determined photoelectric element. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The plurality of photoelectric elements are arranged in a matrix,
The acquisition unit can acquire an electric signal of any one of the photoelectric elements adjacent to the predetermined photoelectric element after acquiring an electric signal of the predetermined photoelectric element among the plurality of photoelectric elements. An information processing apparatus configured as described above. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The acquisition means is capable of switching two shift directions of an acquisition signal having two values, a value indicating acquisition of the electric signal and a value indicating not acquiring the electric signal, between a forward direction and a reverse direction. A reversible shift register, wherein one of the reversible shift registers is a vertical shift register capable of shifting the acquired signal in both the up and down directions with respect to the matrix arrangement, and the other of the reversible shift register is configured to transfer the acquired signal to the matrix. A left and right shift register that can shift both left and right with respect to the line,
Each stage of the vertical shift register corresponds to each row in the vertical direction of the matrix, each stage of the left / right shift register corresponds to each column in the horizontal direction of the matrix, and each photoelectric element of the plurality of photoelectric elements Are each corresponding to any combination of each stage of the up and down shift register and each stage of the left and right shift register,
The control means includes the up / down shift register and the left / right shift register such that a value representing acquisition of the electrical signal is in the up / down shift register stage and the left / right shift register stage corresponding to the determined photoelectric element. An information processing apparatus that controls a register.   The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit is determined at the present time when a photoelectric element that receives light transmitted from the light source of the transmission source is newly determined. The information processing apparatus is determined based on the charge amount of each photoelectric element and a plurality of photoelectric elements arranged around the photoelectric element.

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