JP2017011374A - Vehicular information communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular information system that is suitable for using a portable terminal such as a portable telephone and a smart phone, as a transmitter of vehicle information.SOLUTION: A vehicular information system comprises an on-vehicle information device 10 including: an information collection unit 11 for collecting vehicle information from on-vehicle apparatuses 41, 42, 43, 44; communication interfaces 14A, 14B to which a portable terminal 20 that has been brought in a vehicle and has a communication function, is to be connected; and a control unit 12 for transferring the vehicle information collected by the information collection unit to the portable terminal via a communication interface. The control unit, when the vehicle information collected by the information collection unit is a predetermined type of information, forcibly transfers the vehicle information to a portable terminal connected to a communication interface regardless of the portable terminal's state. A portable terminal to which vehicle information has been transferred transfers the transferred vehicle information to a center device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an information communication system for a vehicle that transmits vehicle information to the outside of the vehicle.

  A vehicle such as a passenger car is equipped with various electronic control modules (EUC) for performing various controls such as powertrain control, body control, and vehicle control. In addition, an operation data recorder (ODR: Operation Data Recorder) that records various operating conditions of the vehicle may be installed. Various information (vehicle information) related to the vehicle collected from such various in-vehicle devices is useful for vehicle failure diagnosis and maintenance management.

  Vehicle information is stored, analyzed, and processed in an external device such as a center device. To obtain vehicle information, the center device writes vehicle information to a memory device such as a USB memory and connects the USB memory to a PC. It is inconvenient because it is necessary to transmit vehicle information from the PC to the center device via the Internet. In order to solve such a problem, a technique for transmitting diagnostic information of a running vehicle to a center device using a dedicated communication module or mobile phone capable of bidirectional communication is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).

JP 2006-25048 A

  It is advantageous in terms of cost to use a mobile terminal possessed by a passenger, such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal, as a transmitter for transmitting vehicle information, rather than mounting a communication module dedicated to transmitting vehicle information as in the prior art described above. It is preferable. However, since the portable terminal is not a device dedicated to vehicle information transmission, it is necessary to consider circumstances specific to the portable terminal when using the portable terminal as a vehicle information transmitter.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle information system suitable for using a portable terminal such as a mobile phone or a smartphone as a vehicle information transmitter.

  An information communication system for a vehicle according to one aspect of the present invention includes an information collection unit that collects vehicle information from an in-vehicle device, a communication interface to which a portable terminal having a communication function brought into the vehicle is connected, and an information collection unit And a control unit that transfers the vehicle information collected by the mobile terminal to the mobile terminal via the communication interface, and the control unit is configured such that when the vehicle information collected by the information collection unit is information of a predetermined type, Regardless of the state of the mobile terminal connected to the communication interface, the vehicle information is forcibly transferred to the mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal to which the vehicle information has been transferred is centered on the transferred vehicle information. Is to be transferred to the device.

  According to the present invention, a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone or a smartphone can be suitably used as a transmitter in a vehicle information system that transmits vehicle information to the outside of the vehicle.

1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle information communication system according to an embodiment. Configuration diagram of an in-vehicle system according to an example The figure which shows the environment setting screen of in-car communication and out-of-vehicle communication of the portable terminal Sequence diagram showing a procedure for transferring vehicle information between the in-vehicle information device, the portable terminal, and the center device Flowchart of vehicle information transmission process in vehicle information communication system

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed descriptions of already well-known matters and repeated descriptions for substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid the following description from becoming unnecessarily redundant and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

  In addition, the inventors provide the accompanying drawings and the following description in order for those skilled in the art to fully understand the present invention, and these are intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims. is not.

  FIG. 1 shows an outline of a vehicular information communication system according to an embodiment. The vehicle information communication system 100 according to the present embodiment includes an in-vehicle information device (CMU: Connectivity Master Management Unit) 10, a mobile terminal 20 (DTU: Data Transfer Unit), and a center device 30. Among these, the in-vehicle information device 10 and the portable terminal 20 are arranged in the vehicle 101, and the center device 30 is arranged outside the vehicle (remote location).

  The vehicle 101 is an automobile that travels by the power of a prime mover such as an internal combustion engine, a hybrid engine, or an electric motor, and is typically a passenger car.

  The in-vehicle information device 10 is an in-vehicle device arranged on a dashboard or a center console of the vehicle 101. The in-vehicle information device 10 includes a small display device (not shown) having a touch panel function, and can perform various operations such as car navigation, an in-vehicle AV device, in-vehicle air conditioning, and vehicle settings by a touch operation. ing.

  The in-vehicle information device 10 has a function of collecting vehicle information of the vehicle 101. The vehicle information here is information obtained from various in-vehicle devices of the vehicle 101. In addition to raw data detected by the in-vehicle devices (for example, GPS (Global Positioning System) information and time information), in-vehicle information Processing data (for example, heater control analysis data, brake analysis data, etc.) analyzed and processed in the device is also included.

  The mobile terminal 20 is a mobile information terminal or a mobile communication device such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a tablet terminal, or a notebook PC possessed by a passenger. The portable terminal 20 is brought into the vehicle 101 and connected to the in-vehicle information device 10 by wire and / or wireless. As will be described later, a plurality of portable terminals 20 can be simultaneously connected to the in-vehicle information device 10. In addition, one mobile terminal 20 can be connected to the in-vehicle information device 10 using two communication interfaces, wired and wireless. By connecting the mobile terminal 20 to the in-vehicle information device 10, the rider can operate the mobile terminal 20 on the in-vehicle information device 10 side. For example, music content, video content, and radio possessed by the mobile terminal 20 are operated by the in-vehicle information device 10 to be played back by the in-vehicle AV device, a short message is viewed by the in-vehicle information device 10, and the hands using the in-vehicle information device 10 You can make free calls.

  The portable terminal 20 has a carrier communication function such as 3G, LTE (Long Term Evolution), and GSM (Global System for Mobile communication). By starting a dedicated application (application) in the mobile terminal 20, the mobile terminal 20 receives vehicle information from the in-vehicle information device 10, and transmits the vehicle information to the center device 30 by wireless communication via the electric communication line 102. Functions as a transmitter to transfer.

  The telecommunication line 102 includes a public mobile communication network provided by telecommunication carriers (communication carriers) such as 3G, LTE, and GSM, the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), and a local area network (LAN).

  The center device 30 is a device that receives vehicle information transferred from the mobile terminal 20 via the telecommunication line 102, and accumulates, analyzes, and processes the received vehicle information. For example, the center device 30 includes a plurality of servers. A back-end server 30A is arranged at the end on the telecommunication line 102 side. The back-end server 30A mainly functions as a communication platform, receives vehicle information transferred from the mobile terminal 20, and accumulates it. The back-end server 30A is connected to another server such as the region server 30B through a WAN or a LAN. The region server 30B appropriately reads and analyzes and processes the stored information of the backend server 30A. The information analyzed and processed by the region server 30B is used for maintenance of the vehicle 101 and for providing high value-added services.

  As described above, in the vehicle information communication system 100 according to the present embodiment, the vehicle is not a dedicated communication device mounted on the vehicle 101 but a general-purpose portable terminal such as a smartphone possessed by the passenger of the vehicle 101. The information is transferred to the center device 30.

  Next, a configuration example of the in-vehicle system of the vehicle 101 will be described. FIG. 2 shows a configuration of an in-vehicle system according to an example.

  The vehicle 101 includes a PCM (Powertrain Control Module) 41 for controlling the operation of the power train including the engine, a TCM (Transmission Control Module) 42 for controlling the transmission, a wiper, a door lock, a room light, a blinker, a tail lamp, and a keyless. Various control systems such as BCM (Body Control Module) 43 that controls electrical components such as security, DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) 44 that controls engine torque to prevent vehicle slipping and maintain vehicle running stability An electronic control module (ECM) is mounted on the vehicle. These in-vehicle devices are connected to an in-vehicle bus 50 such as a CAN (Controller Area Network).

  The in-vehicle information device 10 is also connected to the in-vehicle bus 50. Specifically, the in-vehicle information device 10 includes an information collection unit 11, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 12, a memory 13, and communication interfaces (I / F) 14A and 14B. These components are connected to the internal bus 18.

  The information collection unit 11 is a module that collects vehicle information from the various on-vehicle devices. The information collecting unit 11 is connected to the in-vehicle bus 50 via an interface for connecting to the in-vehicle bus 50 such as a CAN bus interface.

  The memory 13 includes volatile memory such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), and non-volatile memory such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and flash memory. The memory 13 stores a program for operating the in-vehicle information device 10 (in the case of ROM or flash memory), temporarily stores vehicle information collected by the information collecting unit 11 (in the case of RAM), It can be accumulated over a period (in the case of a flash memory).

  The communication interfaces 14 </ b> A and 14 </ b> B are interfaces that connect the in-vehicle information device 10 and the portable terminal 20. The communication interface 14 </ b> A is a short-range wireless interface such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), and the in-vehicle information device 10 and the mobile terminal 20 communicate with each other by the wireless 201. The communication interface 14 </ b> B is a wired interface such as USB (Universal Serial Bus), and the in-vehicle information device 10 and the mobile terminal 20 are connected by a cable 202 and communicate through the cable 202.

  A plurality of portable terminals 20 can be simultaneously connected to the in-vehicle information device 10 using all of the communication interfaces 14A and 14B. In particular, the communication interface 14B has a plurality of ports, and a plurality of portable terminals 20 can be simultaneously connected to the plurality of ports. In the example of FIG. 2, the communication interface 14B has two ports, and can be connected to a maximum of three portable terminals 20 together with the communication interface 14A.

  When the user (passenger) functions the mobile terminal 20 as a transmitter that transmits vehicle information from the in-vehicle information device 10 to the center device 30, the user (passenger) may arbitrarily set a communication environment inside and outside the vehicle related to communication of vehicle information. it can. FIG. 3 shows an environment setting screen for in-vehicle communication and external communication of the mobile terminal 20. For example, it is possible to set whether to use each of Bluetooth and USB as in-vehicle communication. In addition, it is possible to set whether or not to use each of carrier communication and Wi-Fi communication as external communication.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the CPU 12 controls the overall operation of the in-vehicle information device 10 in accordance with a program stored in the memory 13. For example, the CPU 12 collects vehicle information from the in-vehicle device by the information collecting unit 11 and analyzes and processes the collected information as necessary to generate an electronic file having a predetermined data structure. The generated electronic file is stored in the memory 13.

  The CPU 12 stores a plurality of electronic files according to the information type, for example, a file holding cumulative data of travel distance and fuel consumption (for convenience, file A); travel time for one drive (period from ignition on to off), File that holds mileage, fuel consumption, ignition off location and time (for convenience, file B); warning lamp lighting information, vehicle fault code, and vehicle status information for several seconds before and after warning lamp lighting (For convenience, it is referred to as a file C); a file (referred to as a file D for convenience) that holds indicator lamp lighting information and vehicle state information for several seconds before and after the indicator lamp lighting is generated. The file generation timing is, for example, when the file A and the file B are ignition off, the file C is when the warning lamp is lit, and the file D is when a safety device such as ABS (Antilock Brake System) is activated.

  Further, the CPU 12 reads the file from the memory 13 at a predetermined timing, and transfers the file to the portable terminal 20 through the interface that is set to be usable in the communication environment setting among the communication interfaces 14A and 14B. The portable terminal 20 transfers the transferred file to the center device 30 via the telecommunication line 102. The file reading and transmission timing by the CPU 12 is, for example, when the file A is when the engine is started, and immediately after the files B, C, and D are generated.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for transferring vehicle information among the in-vehicle information device 10, the mobile terminal 20, and the center device 30. A procedure for transferring vehicle information among the in-vehicle information device 10, the mobile terminal 20, and the center device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. It is assumed that the mobile terminal 20 is connected to the communication interface 14A or 14B and can communicate with the in-vehicle information device 10 and can communicate with the center device 30 via the telecommunication line 102.

  When a file for storing vehicle information is generated in the in-vehicle information device 10 and a trigger for transmitting the file to the center device 30 occurs, the in-vehicle information device 10 issues a connection request to the mobile terminal 20 (S11). When the portable terminal 20 receives the connection request, the portable terminal 20 checks whether or not the mobile terminal 20 is in a state where it can be connected to the in-vehicle information device 10. S21).

  When receiving the connection permission, the in-vehicle information device 10 issues a file transfer request to the portable terminal 20 (S12). When receiving the transfer request, the portable terminal 20 issues a file transfer permission to the in-vehicle information device 10 (S22). When receiving the transfer permission, the in-vehicle information device 10 transfers the file storing the vehicle information to the mobile terminal 20 via the communication interface 14A or 14B (S13).

  The portable terminal 20 receives the file from the in-vehicle information device 10 and notifies the in-vehicle information device 10 of the reception result (S23). Subsequently, the mobile terminal 20 transfers the received file to the center device 30 via the telecommunication line 102 (S24).

  The center apparatus 30 receives a file from the portable terminal 20 and notifies the reception result to the portable terminal 20 (S31). Based on the reception result notified from the mobile terminal 20, the mobile terminal 20 determines whether or not the file has been transferred to the center apparatus 30 (S 25).

  If the file has not been correctly transferred to the center device 30, the portable terminal 20 sends a file retransmission request to the in-vehicle information device 10 (S26). When receiving the retransmission request, the in-vehicle information device 10 again transfers the file storing the vehicle information to the portable terminal 20 via the communication interface 14A or 14B (S13).

  On the other hand, if the file can be correctly transferred to the center device 30, the center device 30 accumulates the vehicle information stored in the received file and performs analysis / processing (S32). Further, the portable terminal 20 requests the in-vehicle information device 10 to delete the file that has been successfully transferred (S27).

  When receiving the deletion request, the in-vehicle information device 10 deletes the file that has been successfully transferred to the center device 30 via the portable terminal 20 (S14). Subsequently, the in-vehicle information device 10 requests the portable terminal 20 to delete the file that has been successfully transferred from the file list (S15).

  The portable terminal 20 manages files to be received from the in-vehicle information device 10 and transferred to the center device 30 using a file list. When receiving the deletion request, the portable terminal 20 deletes the file name of the file transferred to the center device 30 from the file list (S28). In this way, by using the file list, it is possible to grasp on the mobile terminal 20 side whether or not the file that has been transferred to the center device 30 has been deleted from the memory 13 of the in-vehicle information device 10.

  According to the above procedure, the mobile terminal 20 such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a notebook PC brought into the vehicle by the passenger of the vehicle 101 functions as a transmitter that transmits vehicle information from the in-vehicle information device 10 to the center device 30. Can be made.

Here, when using the mobile terminal 20 as a vehicle information transmitter, it is necessary to consider the circumstances specific to the mobile terminal. For example, the following situation is assumed for the mobile terminal 20.
1. The battery level of the mobile terminal 20 is low.
2. Music content, video content, and the like stored in the mobile terminal 20 are being played back by the in-vehicle AV device, and the communication load between the in-vehicle information device 10 and the mobile terminal 20 is high.
3. Due to the communication environment setting of the mobile terminal 20, transfer of vehicle information from the in-vehicle information device 10 to the mobile terminal 20 is not permitted.

  If such a situation occurs, priority should be given to the intended use of the mobile terminal 20 (in the case of the above 1 and 2), with the refrain from using the mobile terminal 20 as a vehicle information transmitter, or The portable terminal 20 cannot be used as a transmitter (case 3 above). That is, the portable terminal 20 cannot always be used as a vehicle information transmitter, and the timing at which the portable terminal 20 can be used as such a transmitter is limited to when the above situation does not occur. In addition, when the above situation occurs while using the mobile terminal 20 as a vehicle information transmitter, the use as a transmitter may have to be stopped suddenly. In addition, it is difficult to accurately predict the timing at which the mobile terminal 20 can be used as a vehicle information transmitter on the in-vehicle information device 10 side.

  However, vehicle information (hereinafter referred to as critical information) with high importance or urgency regarding the occurrence of a serious failure or the occurrence of an incident that requires relief can be used even if the intended use of the mobile terminal 20 is ignored. It can be considered that the transmission to the terminal 30 is convenient for the user. Therefore, in the vehicular information communication system 100 according to the present embodiment, when using the mobile terminal 20 as a vehicle information transmitter, priority is given to the essential use of the mobile terminal 20 while giving priority to critical information. Transmit to device 30.

  Next, vehicle information transmission processing in the vehicle information communication system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of vehicle information transmission processing in the vehicle information communication system 100.

  When a file storing vehicle information is generated in the in-vehicle information device 10 and a trigger to transmit the file to the center device 30 is generated (S101), the CPU 12 determines which file is temporarily stored in the memory 13 It is confirmed whether such vehicle information is stored (S102). Since the vehicle information stored in each file is determined for each file, the type of vehicle information can be determined from the file name. Alternatively, in the case of a file in which various types of vehicle information are collected in an omnibus manner, the type of vehicle information is confirmed by referring to the contents of the file.

  When the CPU 12 determines that the vehicle information included in the file is not critical information as a result of the vehicle information type confirmation (NO in S103), the CPU 12 confirms the state of the mobile terminal 20 connected to the in-vehicle information device 10 (S104). ). The state of the mobile terminal 20 includes a remaining battery level, a communication load, connection restrictions, and the like. For example, the CPU 12 can know the remaining battery level of the mobile terminal 20 by issuing a request for notification of the remaining battery level to the mobile terminal 20 and receiving the notification of the remaining battery level from the mobile terminal 20. The remaining battery level can be expressed, for example, as a percentage of the charge amount with respect to the battery capacity. Since Bluetooth is designed to notify the master device of the remaining battery level of the slave device, when the in-vehicle information device 10 and the mobile terminal 20 are connected via Bluetooth, the CPU 12 On the other hand, the remaining battery level of the mobile terminal 20 can be known without issuing a request for notification of the remaining battery level.

  Further, for example, the CPU 12 checks the current communication load of the interface that is permitted to be used for the transfer of vehicle information among the communication interfaces 14A and 14B. The communication load is confirmed by checking whether the in-vehicle information device 10 receives music content or video content from the mobile terminal 20 and is playing back on the in-vehicle AV device when the file is transferred via USB. Can be transferred by determining whether or not a hands-free call is being made using Bluetooth.

  Further, for example, the CPU 12 can know the connection restrictions of the mobile terminal 20 by inquiring the mobile terminal 20 about the connection possibility. As described above, the communication environment setting (see FIG. 3) is performed in the mobile terminal 20, and the mobile terminal 20 notifies the CPU 12 of the connection possibility according to the setting.

  As a result of checking the state of the mobile terminal 20, the battery level of the mobile terminal 20 is sufficient, the communication load between the in-vehicle information apparatus 10 and the mobile terminal 20 is light, or the in-vehicle information apparatus 10 is set in the communication environment setting of the mobile terminal 20. If the vehicle information can be received from the CPU 12, the CPU 12 determines that the mobile terminal 20 can be connected (YES in S105), and makes a connection request to the mobile terminal 20 (S11). Thereafter, the portable terminal 20 is requested to transfer a file (continue to S12 in FIG. 4).

  As a result of checking the state of the mobile terminal 20, the battery of the mobile terminal 20 is low, the communication load between the in-vehicle information device 10 and the mobile terminal 20 is high, or the vehicle from the in-vehicle information device 10 in the communication environment setting of the mobile terminal 20 If reception of information is not permitted, the CPU 12 determines that connection with the portable terminal 20 is impossible (NO in S105), and the in-vehicle information device 10 enters a transmission waiting state (S107). Then, when the predetermined time elapses or the next trigger for transmitting the file to the center device 30 occurs, the above procedure is repeated.

  On the other hand, when the CPU 12 determines that the vehicle information included in the file is critical information as a result of the vehicle information type confirmation (YES in S103), the CPU 12 confirms the state of the mobile terminal 20 without checking the state of the mobile terminal 20. Then, a connection request is made (S11), and then a file transfer request is made to the portable terminal 20 (continuing to S12 in FIG. 4). That is, even if the remaining battery level of the mobile terminal 20 is small or the communication load between the in-vehicle information device 10 and the mobile terminal 20 is high, the CPU 12 forces a file including critical information to the mobile terminal 20. Forward.

  According to the above procedure, when using the mobile terminal 20 as a vehicle information transmitter, critical information can be transmitted to the center device 30 with the highest priority while giving priority to the intended use of the mobile terminal 20.

  In addition, what kind of vehicle information is handled as critical information is free. For example, since information such as the occurrence of engine blow and fuel shortage directly affects the continuity of travel of the vehicle 101, it is desirable to forcibly transmit such vehicle information to the center device 30 as critical information. Further, by making the in-vehicle information device 10 intelligent, for example, based on the travelable distance calculated from the remaining fuel amount and the distance to the filling station obtained from the map information, the vehicle 101 can reach the filling station with the current remaining fuel amount. When it is predicted that the vehicle 101 can travel to the gas station, the vehicle information such as the remaining fuel amount and the current position is forcibly transmitted to the center device 30 as critical information. Also good.

  As described above, the embodiments have been described as examples of the technology in the present invention. For this purpose, the accompanying drawings and detailed description are provided.

  Accordingly, among the components described in the accompanying drawings and the detailed description, not only the components essential for solving the problem, but also the components not essential for solving the problem in order to illustrate the above technique. May also be included. Therefore, it should not be immediately recognized that these non-essential components are essential as those non-essential components are described in the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

  Moreover, since the above-mentioned embodiment is for demonstrating the technique in this invention, a various change, replacement, addition, abbreviation, etc. can be performed in a claim or its equivalent range.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Information communication system for vehicles 10 In-vehicle information device 11 Information collection unit 12 CPU (control unit)
14A communication interface 14B communication interface 20 portable terminal 30 center device 41 PCM (vehicle equipment)
42 TCM (In-vehicle equipment)
43 BCM (vehicle equipment)
44 DSC (vehicle equipment)

Claims (5)

An information collection unit for collecting vehicle information from in-vehicle devices;
A communication interface to which a portable terminal having a communication function brought into the vehicle is connected;
An in-vehicle information device having a control unit that transfers vehicle information collected by the information collection unit to the portable terminal via the communication interface;
When the vehicle information collected by the information collection unit is information of a predetermined type, the control unit forcibly transfers the vehicle information to the portable terminal regardless of the state of the portable terminal connected to the communication interface. Is configured to
A vehicular information communication system, wherein a mobile terminal to which vehicle information has been transferred transfers the transferred vehicle information to a center device.   The control unit is configured to forcibly transfer the predetermined type of vehicle information to the mobile terminal even when the remaining battery level of the mobile terminal is less than a predetermined value. The vehicle information communication system described in 1.   The control unit is configured to forcibly transfer the predetermined type of vehicle information to the mobile terminal even when the communication load between the mobile terminal and the in-vehicle information device is high. The vehicle information communication system according to claim 1.   The control unit is configured to forcibly transfer the predetermined type of vehicle information to the mobile terminal even when the mobile terminal is not permitted to connect to the in-vehicle information device due to a communication environment setting in the mobile terminal. The vehicular information communication system according to claim 1.   The vehicle information communication system according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined type of information is vehicle information related to occurrence of a serious failure.

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