JP2016103183A - Communication system, communication method and communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system, a communication method and a communication device capable of issuing an overspeed warning in a location where a vehicle detector is not installed.SOLUTION: A communication system in an embodiment has an imaging unit; a vehicle-mounted communication unit; a first acquisition unit; a second acquisition unit; and a communication control unit. The imaging unit images a road and acquires image data. The vehicle-mounted communication unit communicates with a vehicle-mounted device mounted in a vehicle traveling on the road. The first acquisition unit acquires a vehicle number of the vehicle and identification information on the on-vehicle device from the on-vehicle communication unit. The second acquisition unit acquires a vehicle number of a vehicle shown in an image from the image data. The communication control unit acquires identification information on the on-vehicle device mounted in the vehicle shown in the image on the basis of the vehicle number acquired by the first acquisition unit and the vehicle number acquired by the second acquisition unit, and transmits an instruction to communicate the on-vehicle communication unit with the on-vehicle device using the acquired identification information to the on-vehicle communication unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a communication system, a communication method, and a communication apparatus.

Conventionally, a toll gate on an expressway measures the speed of a vehicle entering the toll gate using a camera or sensor installed near the toll gate, and exceeds a predetermined speed (hereinafter referred to as “warning speed”). A warning of excessive speed is given to vehicles entering the vehicle. This warning is realized by a wireless communication device (hereinafter referred to as “on-vehicle device communication device”) installed in the vicinity of the toll gate communicating with the on-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle. Specifically, when a vehicle that exceeds the warning speed is detected, the in-vehicle device communication apparatus instructs the on-vehicle device to output a message that prompts the driver to reduce the speed.
Such an overspeed warning is triggered by vehicle detection by a vehicle detector installed at the toll gate entrance. A vehicle detector is installed in the position which can detect the vehicle which approachs the radio | wireless communication range of onboard equipment communication apparatus. Therefore, the vehicle-mounted device communication device can communicate with a vehicle that has entered the wireless communication range of the device itself by starting wireless communication triggered by vehicle detection by the vehicle detector.

  However, in a place where the vehicle detector is not installed, an opportunity to communicate with the vehicle-mounted device cannot be obtained. For this reason, there is a case where the above-mentioned over-speed warning cannot be performed in a place where the vehicle detector is not installed.

JP 2007-134898 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a communication system, a communication method, and a communication device that enable warning of overspeed in a place where a vehicle detector is not installed.

  The communication system of the embodiment includes an imaging unit, an in-vehicle device communication unit, a first acquisition unit, a second acquisition unit, and a communication control unit. The imaging unit captures a road and acquires image data. The on-vehicle device communication unit communicates with the on-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle traveling on the road. A 1st acquisition part acquires the vehicle number of the said vehicle, and the identification information of the said onboard equipment from the said onboard equipment communication part. A 2nd acquisition part acquires the vehicle number of the vehicle imaged by the image from the said image data. The communication control unit includes: an in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle captured in the image based on the vehicle number acquired by the first acquisition unit and the vehicle number acquired by the second acquisition unit. The identification information is acquired, and the in-vehicle device communication unit is instructed to communicate with the in-vehicle device using the acquired identification information.

A system configuration figure showing a system configuration of speed warning system 1 of an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of a server 6. The figure which shows the specific example of the speed information table 621. FIG. The figure which shows the specific example of the vehicle information table 622. The flowchart which shows the flow of the speed warning in the speed warning system 1 of embodiment. The figure which shows the example of application of the speed warning system 1 of a modification.

  Hereinafter, a communication system, a communication method, and a communication apparatus according to embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a system configuration of a speed warning system 1 (communication system) of the embodiment.
FIG. 1 shows a free flow ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) system installed on the main highway as an example of the configuration of the speed warning system 1. Vehicles 2-1 to 2-3 are vehicles traveling on a highway. Each of the vehicles 2-1 to 2-3 includes a vehicle-mounted device that communicates with the ETC system. Hereinafter, in order to simplify the description, the vehicles 2-1 to 2-3 are described as the vehicle 2 unless otherwise distinguished.

  The gantry 3 is a gate-type structure provided on the road to enable toll collection by free flow. In the gantry 3, imaging devices 4-1 and 4-2 (imaging unit) and on-vehicle device communication devices 5-1 and 5-2 (on-vehicle device communication unit) are installed. The imaging devices 4-1 and 4-2 and the vehicle-mounted device communication devices 5-1 and 5-2 include a communication interface such as a LAN (Local Area Network), and are configured to be able to communicate with the server 6. The imaging devices 4-1 and 4-2 capture the road in a predetermined direction and generate image data. The imaging device 4 transmits the generated image data to the server 6. Hereinafter, for the sake of simplicity, the imaging devices 4-1 and 4-2 are referred to as the imaging device 4 unless otherwise distinguished.

  The in-vehicle device communication devices 5-1 and 5-2 are wireless communication devices that communicate with the on-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle 2 by a narrow-range wireless communication method using a 5.8 GHz band called DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication). is there. The onboard equipment communication devices 5-1 and 5-2 acquire information on the vehicle 2 (hereinafter referred to as “vehicle information”) from the onboard equipment. The vehicle information includes information written on the license plate, credit card information used for fee settlement, and the like. The onboard equipment communication devices 5-1 and 5-2 transmit the vehicle information to the server 6. Hereinafter, in order to simplify the explanation, the in-vehicle device communication devices 5-1 and 5-2 are referred to as the on-vehicle device communication device 5 unless otherwise distinguished.

  The server 6 communicates with the imaging device 4 and acquires image data from the imaging device 4. The server 6 communicates with the onboard equipment communication device 5 and acquires vehicle information from the onboard equipment communication device 5. The server 6 acquires the speed of the vehicle 2 based on the image data. The server 6 identifies the vehicle based on the image data and the vehicle information, and issues an overspeed warning to the vehicle 2 that exceeds the warning speed.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the server 6.
The server 6 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and the like connected by a bus, and executes a speed warning program. The server 6 functions as a device including the communication unit 61, the storage unit 62, the NP recognition unit 63, the speed measurement unit 64, the vehicle information acquisition unit 65, and the speed warning unit 66 by executing the speed warning program. All or some of the functions of the server 6 may be realized by using hardware such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The speed warning program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium is, for example, a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system. The speed warning program may be transmitted via a telecommunication line.

The communication unit 61 is configured using a communication interface such as a LAN. The communication unit 61 communicates with the imaging device 4 and the vehicle-mounted device communication device 5.
The storage unit 62 is configured using a storage device such as a magnetic hard disk device or a semiconductor storage device. The storage unit 62 stores a speed information table 621 and a vehicle information table 622. The speed information table 621 is a table that stores the speed of the vehicle acquired based on the image data. The vehicle information table 622 is a table that stores vehicle information.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of the speed information table 621.
The speed information table 621 has a speed information record for each vehicle number. A speed information record has each value of a vehicle number and a vehicle speed. The vehicle number is information on a vehicle number (vehicle number) written on the number plate of the vehicle. The vehicle speed represents the speed of the vehicle indicated by the vehicle number. The speed information record is registered in the speed information table 621 by the speed measuring unit 64.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the vehicle information table 622.
The vehicle information table 622 has a vehicle information record for each number information. A vehicle information record has the value of onboard equipment ID and number information. The vehicle-mounted device ID is identification information of the vehicle-mounted device. The onboard equipment communication device 5 communicates with the onboard equipment indicated by the onboard equipment ID by designating the onboard equipment ID. For example, the vehicle-mounted device ID is a MAC (Media Access Control) address. The number information is number plate information included in the vehicle information. The vehicle information record is registered in the vehicle information table 622 by the vehicle information acquisition unit 65.

Returning to the description of FIG.
The NP recognition unit 63 (second acquisition unit) acquires image data from the imaging device 4. The NP recognition unit 63 detects a license plate from the acquired image data. The NP recognition unit 63 reads the detected license plate and acquires the vehicle number. The NP recognition unit 63 outputs the set of the detected position of the license plate on the image, the vehicle number, and the image data to the speed measurement unit 64.

  The speed measurement unit 64 (state information acquisition unit) acquires from the NP recognition unit 63 a set of the detected position of the license plate on the image, the vehicle number, and the image data. The speed measurement unit 64 measures the speed of the vehicle (an example of state information) from the image data. Any existing method may be used as a method for measuring the speed of the vehicle from the image data. For example, the speed measurement unit 64 may measure the speed of the vehicle based on the position where the license plate is detected from the image data acquired in time series. The speed measurement unit 64 generates a speed information record based on the measured vehicle speed and the vehicle number. The speed measurement unit 64 registers the generated speed information record in the speed information table 621.

  The vehicle information acquisition unit 65 (first acquisition unit) acquires vehicle information from the in-vehicle device communication device 5. The vehicle information acquisition unit 65 acquires number information from the vehicle information. The vehicle information acquisition unit 65 generates a vehicle information record based on the acquired number information. The vehicle information acquisition unit 65 registers the generated vehicle information record in the vehicle information table 622.

  The speed warning unit 66 (communication control unit) issues a warning of excessive speed to a vehicle that has exceeded the warning speed. Specifically, the speed warning unit 66 detects a vehicle that exceeds the warning speed from the vehicle from which the speed information is acquired. The speed warning unit 66 acquires the vehicle-mounted device ID of the detected vehicle. The speed warning unit 66 designates and communicates with the acquired vehicle-mounted device ID, and causes the driver to notify the vehicle-mounted device indicated by the vehicle-mounted device ID of an overspeed warning.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the speed warning in the speed warning system 1 of the embodiment.
First, the imaging device 4 and the vehicle-mounted device communication device 5 independently acquire image data and vehicle information. The imaging device 4 transmits the acquired image data to the server 6 (step S101). The onboard equipment communication apparatus 5 acquires vehicle information from the onboard equipment (step S102). The onboard equipment communication apparatus 5 transmits the acquired vehicle information to the server 6 (step S103). The server 6 acquires image data and vehicle information (step S104).

The NP recognition unit 63 of the server 6 detects a license plate from the acquired image data. The NP recognition unit 63 reads the detected number plate and acquires the vehicle number (step S105). The NP recognition unit 63 outputs the set of the detected position of the license plate on the image, the vehicle number, and the image data to the speed measurement unit 64. The speed measurement unit 64 acquires a set of the detected position of the license plate on the image, the vehicle number, and the image data from the speed measurement unit 64. The speed measurement unit 64 measures the vehicle speed based on the detected position of the license plate on the image (step S106). The speed measurement unit 64 generates a speed information record based on the vehicle number and the vehicle speed, and registers the speed information record in the speed information table 621.
Moreover, the vehicle information acquisition part 65 of the server 6 acquires vehicle equipment ID and number information from the acquired vehicle information (step S107). The vehicle information acquisition unit 65 generates a vehicle information record based on the vehicle-mounted device ID and number information, and registers the vehicle information record in the vehicle information table 622.

  The speed warning unit 66 refers to the speed information table 621 and selects a speed information record having a vehicle speed value larger than the warning speed. The speed warning unit 66 acquires the value of the vehicle number from the selected speed information record. The speed warning unit 66 refers to the vehicle information table 622 and selects a vehicle information record having the acquired vehicle number value as the number information (step S108). When the vehicle information record having the value of the acquired vehicle number is not selected (step S108-NO), the speed warning unit 66 determines that the vehicle is not equipped with the vehicle-mounted device, and proceeds to step S104. The image data and the vehicle information are processed. The process ends. On the other hand, when the vehicle information record having the value of the acquired vehicle number is selected (step S108-YES), the speed warning unit 66 acquires the value of the vehicle-mounted device ID from the selected vehicle information record (step S109). . The speed warning unit 66 notifies the onboard equipment communication device 5 of the acquired onboard equipment ID, and instructs the onboard equipment indicated by the onboard equipment ID to warn of overspeed (step S110). The onboard equipment communication device 5 acquires the onboard equipment ID notified from the speed warning section 66 and the instruction of the warning about overspeed. The onboard equipment communication device 5 designates the acquired onboard equipment ID, starts communication with the onboard equipment, and notifies the onboard equipment of an overspeed warning (step S111). The vehicle-mounted device that has received the warning of overspeed outputs a warning message and prompts the driver to suppress the speed (step S112).

  In the speed warning system 1 of the embodiment configured as described above, the vehicle to be warned of overspeed is specified by associating the number information acquired from the vehicle-mounted device and the vehicle number acquired from the image data. To do. That is, the speed warning system 1 does not require a vehicle detector that detects a vehicle that enters the communication range of the vehicle-mounted device communication device 5. Therefore, the speed warning system 1 according to the embodiment can issue a warning of overspeed even at a place other than the place where the vehicle detector is provided, such as an expressway toll gate.

Next, a modified example of the speed warning system 1 of the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an application example of the speed warning system 1 according to a modification.
FIG. 6 shows an example of a speed warning system 1 configured using ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) spots. The ITS spot refers to an area on the road where various information services relating to traffic such as traffic jam information, route information, and information for prompting driving attention can be received, or an infrastructure for realizing the information service. ITS Spot is researching to realize a high added-value and wide-range transportation infrastructure based on ETC system technology. Such ITS spots are expected to be developed not only on toll roads such as expressways but also on general roads in the future.

  ITS spots that provide such various information services include imaging devices 4-3 and 4-4 for acquiring road traffic conditions in addition to the in-vehicle device communication devices 5-3 and 5-4. It is assumed that In the speed warning system 1 using such an ITS spot, it is possible to notify the driver not only of the excessive speed warning but also various kinds of information to the driver via the vehicle-mounted device.

  For example, the speed warning system 1 shown in FIG. 6 notifies the vehicles 2-4 and 2-5 entering the intersection of each other's progress and the presence of other vehicles and pedestrians, and drives the driver. Can call attention. For example, in this case, the speed measurement unit 64 detects the license plates of the vehicles 2-4 and 2-5 from the image data. The speed measurement unit 64 outputs the detected positions of the license plates of the vehicles 2-4 and 2-5 on the image to the NP recognition unit 63. The NP recognition unit 63 reads the license plates of the vehicles 2-4 and 2-5 and registers them in the speed information table 621 together with the time information.

  The speed warning unit 66 determines the traffic situation from the positional relationship of the license plates detected at the same time. The speed warning unit 66 acquires the vehicle-mounted device ID of the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the detected vehicles 2-4 and 2-5. The speed warning unit 66 outputs the acquired vehicle-mounted device ID and information notified to the vehicle-mounted device indicated by each vehicle-mounted device ID to the vehicle-mounted device communication device 5. The onboard equipment communication device 5 acquires the onboard equipment ID and the information notified to the onboard equipment indicated by each onboard equipment ID from the speed warning unit 66. The onboard equipment communication device 5 communicates with the onboard equipment mounted on the vehicles 2-4 and 2-5 using the acquired onboard equipment ID, and notifies each onboard equipment of information to be notified to the onboard equipment indicated by each onboard equipment ID. Send to.

  In the case of the example in FIG. 6, the speed warning unit 66 notifies the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle 2-4 of the presence of the vehicle 2-5 and generates a message that calls attention. Similarly, the speed warning unit 66 notifies the presence of the vehicle 2-4 to the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle 2-5, and generates a message that calls attention.

  According to at least one embodiment described above, the speed warning system 1 described above includes the NP recognition unit 63 that reads the license plate from the image data, the vehicle number read from the image data, and the number acquired from the vehicle-mounted device. By having the speed warning unit 66 for identifying the vehicle that is the warning target of the overspeed based on the information, the speed warning can be performed even in a place where there is no vehicle detector. Further, by using the image data for measuring the vehicle speed, the speed warning system 1 can provide the driver with information on traffic other than the vehicle speed acquired from the image data.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Speed warning system, 2, 2-1 to 2-5 ... Vehicle, 3 ... Gantry, 4, 4-1 to 4-4 ... Imaging device, 5, 5-1 to 5-4 ... Onboard equipment communication apparatus, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 6 ... Server, 61 ... Communication part, 62 ... Memory | storage part, 621 ... Speed information table, 622 ... Vehicle information table, 63 ... NP recognition part, 64 ... Speed measurement part, 65 ... Vehicle information acquisition part, 66 ... Speed warning part

Claims (5)

An imaging unit for imaging a road and acquiring image data;
An in-vehicle device communication unit that communicates with an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle traveling on the road;
A first acquisition unit for acquiring the vehicle number of the vehicle and the identification information of the on-board unit from the on-board unit communication unit;
A second acquisition unit that acquires a vehicle number of a vehicle imaged from the image data;
Based on the vehicle number acquired by the first acquisition unit and the vehicle number acquired by the second acquisition unit, the identification information of the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle imaged in the image is acquired. A communication control unit that instructs the on-board unit communication unit to communicate with the on-board unit using the acquired identification information;
A communication system comprising: A state information acquisition unit that acquires state information related to the state of the vehicle imaged from the image data;
The communication control unit transmits information acquired based on the state information to an in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle.
The communication system according to claim 1. The state information acquisition unit measures the speed of the vehicle from the image data,
The communication control unit instructs the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle to warn the driver of the vehicle that exceeds a predetermined speed that the speed is exceeded.
The communication system according to claim 2. An imaging step of imaging a road and acquiring image data;
A first acquisition step of communicating with the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle traveling on the road, and acquiring the vehicle number of the vehicle and the identification information of the vehicle-mounted device from the vehicle-mounted device;
A second acquisition step of acquiring a vehicle number of the vehicle imaged from the image data;
Based on the vehicle number acquired in the first acquisition step and the vehicle number acquired in the second acquisition step, identification information of the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle imaged in the image is acquired. A communication step of communicating with the on-vehicle device using the identification information of the on-vehicle device;
A communication method comprising: A first acquisition unit that acquires a vehicle number of a vehicle imaged in an image from image data acquired by an imaging device that images a road;
A second acquisition unit that acquires the vehicle number of the vehicle and the identification information of the vehicle-mounted device from an vehicle-mounted device communication device that communicates with the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle traveling on the road;
Based on the vehicle number acquired by the first acquisition unit and the vehicle number acquired by the second acquisition unit, the identification information of the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle imaged in the image is acquired. A communication control unit that instructs the in-vehicle device communication device to communicate with the in-vehicle device using the acquired identification information;
A communication device comprising:

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