JP2739021B2 - Vehicle identification device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle identification device used in an electronic toll collection system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a toll collection system for a toll road, a method in which a toll collector directly collects cash from a driver at a toll booth, or causes a driver to deposit cash into an automatic machine to automatically collect tolls. Has been adopted. Because of this,
The driver had to stop at the toll booth and prepare cash. On the other hand, as a toll collection system in the near future, a system has been developed in which information unique to the vehicle is recorded in the vehicle and a vehicle-side communication device such as a non-contact IC card capable of wirelessly communicating with the outside is used.

An example will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 23, an IC card 06 is mounted as a vehicle-side communication device inside a windshield of a vehicle 07, and an antenna 026 is provided on the IC card 06.
Information such as an identification number unique to the vehicle is stored. on the other hand,
Each toll booth has an antenna 017,0 for transmission and reception for each lane.
A road machine 01 having 18 is arranged. Road machine 01
Is the data processing device (terminal computer) 05 in the tollgate
The data processing device 05 is connected to a central computer 04.

[0004] Therefore, the vehicle 0 equipped with the IC card 06
7 passes by the side of the on-road unit 01, the antenna 017,
When the vehicle enters the communication area 018, information unique to the vehicle and the like are wirelessly communicated between the roadside device 01 and the IC card 06. After the information is recognized by the roadside device 01, the information is transmitted to the data processing device 05 and stored in the memory.
Charging processing such as automatically adjusting the toll from the bank account registered with the vehicle 07 that has been transmitted from the data processing device 05 to the central computer 04 and performed is performed. Thus, the IC card 06 of the vehicle 07 and the road machine 01
The non-contact and cashless toll collection system can be realized by non-contact identification of the vehicle by wireless communication between them, which greatly contributes to the improvement of the convenience of the driver.

[0005]

Recently, in order to eliminate traffic congestion in the city center and to ensure smooth operation, there is a plan to charge a vehicle entering the city center and provide an area for restricting vehicle entry. In order to realize such a plan efficiently and unattended,
It is necessary to provide control points on all roads leading to the above-mentioned area and electronically charge vehicles entering the area using wireless communication means. Information specific to each vehicle is recorded in the vehicle, and onboard equipment equipped with wireless communication means is required by law, and a smart card such as an IC card that records personal information of the driver is installed in the onboard equipment. Keep it.

However, roads in the city center are generally composed of a plurality of lanes, and it is difficult to secure a site for providing a partition between the lanes at a control point, such as a tollgate on a toll road.
For this reason, it is not possible to provide a partition at the control point, and each vehicle translates in the lane, skews to another lane, or straddles between the lanes, and further runs at high speed (for example, 120 km / h). ) Or traffic jams are expected. Further, even in the case of a single lane, it is expected that a vehicle such as a single vehicle runs in the same lane in parallel.

[0007] Even in such a case, at the control point,
A wireless communication system and a vehicle separation method for clearly identifying each vehicle and charging accurately are required. In addition, when the vehicle-mounted device to be mounted on the vehicle is not mounted, or when the smart card is not mounted, when the vehicle-mounted device or the smart card is illegal, the vehicle-mounted device or the smart card is on the blacklist. In this case, it is expected that the balance of the smart card becomes insufficient.

In the case of such an illegally passing vehicle, the identification and charging of the vehicle cannot be performed normally. Therefore, even if the vehicle continues (for example, the distance between vehicles is about 25 cm) or runs at high speed, the license plate of the vehicle is displayed. It is necessary to capture the images including the images clearly and to transmit the images to the central monitoring station so that the images can be collated without deteriorating the image quality. Further, it is necessary to confirm whether there is any error in vehicle identification and charging at the control point.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art, and accurately identifies a vehicle even at a control point of a toll collection system, even if the vehicle is translating and sloping on a road having a plurality of lanes. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle identification device capable of performing the following.

[0010] The structure of the present invention that achieves the above object is a vehicle that freely travels between lanes on a road having one or more lanes, and that is mounted on the vehicle, stores unique information, and stores radio communication means. And a vehicle identification for identifying the vehicle by wireless communication with the vehicle-mounted device via the antenna, comprising: an on-vehicle device having at least one antenna installed for each lane above the road; In the device, when the plurality of antennas, in a vehicle identification device that performs wireless communication by each antenna in a time-division manner to prevent interference between each antenna , from the antenna
Multiple in-vehicle devices respond simultaneously to the response request signal
When a signal is output and the response signal collides with the antenna
The vehicle-mounted device until the response signal is received normally.
And repeatedly transmit a response request signal from the antenna.
On the other hand, the in-vehicle device transmitted a response signal
After that, a predetermined signal is received from the antenna within a predetermined time.
If not, each time is different depending on the random number
After the delay, the response signal is
The signal is transmitted again .

[0011]

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. [Embodiment 1] An electronic toll collection system (E
electronic Road Pricing S
1st embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. The electronic toll collection system according to the present embodiment is applied to a plan in which a vehicle entering a city center is charged and an area for restricting entry of the vehicle is provided, and is called a so-called three gantry system.

[0013] The electronic toll collection system of this embodiment can be functionally divided into three sections. One is a system (Automatic Vehicle Identity) for identifying vehicles that freely pass on a road having a plurality of lanes and charging a toll.
fiction And Debiting Sys
tem: AVID system). The other is an image of an unauthorized traffic vehicle (Enforcement) which captures an image of an unauthorized traffic vehicle and sends the data to a central monitoring room.
Camera System (ECS). The other one is an in-vehicle device (In-Vehic
le unit): related to IU).

In this embodiment, in order to mainly implement the functions of the AVID system and the ECS, outstations (Outstations) as shown in FIG. 1 are arranged at control points in various places. At outstation,
A control room 4 is provided on three gantry (gate pillars) 1, 2, and 3 that straddle the road and on the side of the road. The road is composed of three lanes, and a plurality of vehicles run freely. Each vehicle is required by law to be equipped with an in-vehicle device having wireless communication means. The in-vehicle device is a smart card (Smart Car) that records personal information of the driver.
d: SC), which will be described later in detail.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the distance between the first gantry (hereinafter referred to as first gantry) 1 and the next gantry (hereinafter referred to as second gantry) 2 is about 7 m in the traveling direction of the vehicle. And the second gantry 2
And the next gantry (hereinafter called the third gantry) 3
Is about 5 m. The first gantry 1 is provided with three charging antennas 5, 6, 7 corresponding to each lane along the lateral direction, and six surveillance cameras 8, 6 for photographing illegally passing vehicles. 9, 10, 11, 12,
13 are mounted along the lateral direction.

The communication area of the charging antennas 5, 6, 7 is within a range from about 1 m ahead of the first gantry 1 to about 3 m ahead. Adjacent communication areas shall partially overlap. Billing antennas 5, 6, 7
Is designed in consideration of the influence of natural conditions, such as rain and snow, since the wireless communication is performed by microwaves. The monitoring cameras 8 to 13 are attached at positions immediately after passing through the third gantry 3 so as to be able to capture an image including a license plate of a passing vehicle. Surveillance camera 8 ~
As 13, a monochrome CCD camera with an electronic shutter is used so that a captured image can be digitally processed. still,
Although omitted in the figure, it is preferable to provide a lighting device in consideration of a case where the amount of outdoor light is insufficient.

The second gantry 2 has a total of six vehicle detectors (Vehicle P), two for each lane.
response Detector (VPD) 14,1
5, 16, 17, 18, and 19 are mounted along the lateral direction. As the vehicle detectors 14 to 19, a one-dimensional C
A CD camera is used to photograph the area immediately below the second gantry 2, and a black and white periodic mark 2a is laid on the road at that position along the horizontal direction. Therefore, when the periodic mark 2a is photographed by the one-dimensional CCD camera, a rectangular wave having the same period as the periodic mark 2a is observed, but when the vehicle blocks the periodic mark 2a, the rectangular waveform is disturbed. . This can be analyzed in a time series to detect the position of the vehicle in the front-rear direction and the lateral direction.

When a one-dimensional CCD camera is used as the vehicle detectors 14 to 19 as in the present embodiment, detection can be performed at intervals of about 25 cm in the road width direction and the traffic direction, and the vehicle is separated from a motorcycle to a large vehicle. be able to. In this embodiment, the periodic mark 2a is a black and white grid-like mark, but another periodic pattern may be used.

On the third gantry 3, three confirmation antennas 20, 21, 22 are mounted along the lateral direction corresponding to each lane, and a total of six antennas are provided, two for each lane. Vehicle Separat (Vehicle Separat)
or: VS) 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 are attached along the lateral direction. Confirmation antenna 2
The communication area of 0, 21, 22 is within a range from about 1 m ahead of the third gantry 3 to about 3 m ahead. Adjacent communication areas shall partially overlap. The confirmation antennas 20, 21, 22 are designed in consideration of the influence of natural conditions such as rain, snow, etc., in order to perform wireless communication by microwaves.

As the vehicle separators 23 to 28, a one-dimensional C
A CD camera is used to photograph the area immediately below the third gantry 3, and black and white periodic marks 3a are laid on the road at that position along the horizontal direction. Therefore, when the periodic mark 3a is photographed by the one-dimensional CCD camera, a rectangular wave having the same period as the periodic mark is observed, but when the vehicle blocks the periodic mark, the rectangular waveform is disturbed. This can be processed in chronological order to detect the position of the vehicle in the front-rear direction and the lateral direction.

When a one-dimensional CCD camera is used as the vehicle separators 23 to 28 as in the present embodiment, detection can be made at intervals of about 25 cm in the road width direction and the traffic direction, and the vehicle is separated from a motorcycle to a large vehicle. be able to. In this embodiment, the periodic mark 2a is a black and white grid-like mark, but another periodic pattern may be used.
It should be noted that vehicles other than a one-dimensional CCD camera, such as ultrasonic waves and microwaves, can be detected, but the directivity is wide and separation of about 25 cm is impossible.

In order to control the charging antennas 5, 6, 7, the confirmation antennas 20, 21, 22, the vehicle detectors 14 to 19, and the vehicle separators 23 to 28, an antenna controller, Local controller, V
A PD master controller, a VS master controller, an ECS, and the like are provided. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the billing antennas 5, 6, and 7 are connected to the antenna controller 29.
Is for receiving vehicle information and personal information and transmitting billing information including a billing value by wireless communication with the vehicle-mounted device via billing antennas 5, 6, and 7.

As described later, the antenna controller 29 uses a time division multiple access (Time Division Multi Access) in order to avoid the interference of the charging antennas 5, 6, and 7 and to reliably charge a plurality of vehicles.
It is desirable to adopt a ple access (TDMA) system. The confirmation antennas 20, 21, 22 are connected to an antenna controller 30, and the antenna controller 30 receives the vehicle information and the personal information by wireless communication with the vehicle-mounted device via the confirmation antennas 20, 21, 22. It is to let.

Further, the vehicle detectors 14 to 19 are connected to a VPD master controller 31. The VPD master controller 31 sends the front and rear end positions of the vehicle detected by the vehicle detectors 14 to 19 to an antenna controller 30. The output is to activate a specific confirmation antenna. Further, the vehicle separators 23 to 28 are connected to a VS master controller 32. The VS master controller 32 transmits the rear end position of the vehicle detected by the vehicle separators 23 to 28 to the ECS, and transmits the information to the ECS. In such a case, the surveillance cameras 8 to 13 capture images including the license plate of the vehicle.

Further, the antenna controllers 29, 30,
The VPD master controller 31 and the VS master controller 32 are connected to a local controller 33, and the local controller 33
7. Based on the vehicle information and personal information received in step 7, it is determined whether or not the vehicle should be charged and whether the vehicle information and personal information are normal. When the vehicle is normally charged, the charging value according to the vehicle type is determined. Is output to the antenna controller 29, and the vehicle information and the personal information obtained from the antenna controller 29 are compared with a blacklist. If the vehicle falls under the blacklist, the vehicle is regarded as abnormal. , ECS to take a picture of the vehicle.

The ECS determines the vehicle information or the personal information by the local controller 33 as abnormal, or determines the position of the illegally passing vehicle that falls under the blacklist and is regarded as illegal, by using the vehicle separators 23 to 28. And the monitoring cameras 8 to 13 corresponding to the positions are used to photograph the illegally passing vehicle. ECS and local controller 33, VS master controller 3
2 can be communicated via the ECS interface 34. In addition, the local controller 33
Is a central processing unit (Central Computer)
The system can communicate with a high-speed digital communication network (Dignet) such as ISDN, which is connected to a System (CCS), via a dignet interface 35.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the vehicle-mounted device and the smart card. As shown in the figure, the vehicle-mounted device 36 has a structure in which a smart card 37 can be mounted, and a liquid crystal display unit 36a is provided on the front surface. The on-vehicle device 36 stores unique vehicle information, for example, an IU code, an IU type, a manufacturing date, and the like, and includes a wireless communication unit (not shown). The smart card 37 stores personal information of the driver, for example, a smart card code, a driver's license number, a charging history, and the like. In this embodiment, a prepaid card is used.

When the smart card 37 is inserted into the in-vehicle device 36, the information of the smart card 37 is transmitted to and stored in the in-vehicle device 36 after mutual confirmation is performed. Record When the smart card 37 is removed from the vehicle-mounted device 36, the information of the smart card 37 is deleted. still,
Public vehicles such as buses, police and fire departments are exempt from charges and such types of vehicles are
Assuming that the U type = 4, the smart card 37
So that it is not judged as an illegally passing vehicle even if is not installed.

As a payment method, a prepaid method shown in FIG. 5 is employed. In the case of the prepaid system, an in-vehicle device registration system 38 connected via a digital network is provided. The on-vehicle device registration system 38 includes the on-vehicle device number input device 3.
9. Total processing device 40, prepaid card writer 4
1. An IU code, a smart card code, and a deposit amount are input to an in-vehicle unit number input device 39 by a printer 42. The prepaid card writer 41 converts a smart card into an IC card,
The deposit amount is recorded, and the information is transmitted to the CCS via the tally processing device 40.

It is desirable to provide a violator confirmation system 43 in order to prevent fraud in the prepaid system. FIG. 6 shows a smart card payment mode.
The credit card method can be adopted as shown in FIG. In the case of a credit card system, a credit card management system 44 connected via a digital network is provided. The credit card management system 44 includes a central processing unit 45, a card history storage device 46, and a printer 47.
It consists of. The payment method is not particularly limited, and a postpaid method or a deposit method may be adopted.

As shown in FIG. 12, the ECS includes a plurality of monitoring cameras, a camera interface unit 48, an image compression / decompression unit 49, a hard disk unit 50, a CPU unit 51,
It comprises a transmission section 52, a controller interface section 53, a maintenance interface section 54, an image display section 55, and other interface sections 56. CPU unit 51
Is composed of a memory necessary for the operation of the system, interrupt control, and other necessary control circuits, and controls the operation of the entire ECS.

The camera interface unit 48 has two types of frame memories for taking a shutter command and image input to the camera, automatically controlling the aperture of the camera, and holding the camera image. It can be read from the frame. The image compression / decompression unit 49 compresses or decompresses the image captured from the camera by hardware according to a predetermined method.

The hard disk unit 50 does not store compressed images and additional information from the camera. Transmission unit 5
Reference numeral 2 denotes a transmission interface for transmitting the compressed image and the image additional information to the CCS, and receiving a designated image communication command, time, and other necessary variable information and setting information from the CCS. The controller interface unit 53 is an interface mainly with respect to the local controller, which receives an imaging command interrupt and illegally passing vehicle information corresponding to the imaging command, and transmits a shooting processing state.

The maintenance interface unit 54 is an interface for connecting a personal computer for maintenance or adjustment. The image display unit 55 includes a frame memory for display, a circuit capable of superimposing alphanumeric characters, cursors, frame lines, and the like. In addition, the interface unit 56 includes an interface for an external light illuminometer and an interface for controlling a lighting device as necessary.

In the above-mentioned ECS, only the illegally passing vehicles are photographed. For example, by photographing all the passing vehicles and then deleting the image information about the normally passed vehicles, Only the image information of the illegally passing vehicle may be left.

A method for implementing the ERP system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 7, in the first gantry 1, the antenna controller 29 controls the charging antennas 5, 6, and 7 to constantly transmit a response request signal to the vehicle-mounted device 36. This response request signal is composed of data such as the antenna number, time, location, and lane position. The response request signal includes a random number for performing mutual confirmation between the charging antennas 5, 6, 7 and the on-vehicle device 36 for the purpose of preventing fraud.

The in-vehicle device 36 mounted on the vehicle passing through the first gantry 1 receives the response request signal, performs mutual confirmation with the charging antennas 5, 6, and 7 using random numbers, and confirms the response request signal. Then, a response signal is transmitted to billing antennas 5, 6, and 7. The in-vehicle device 36 is normally in a sleep state, but is activated by a response request signal. This response signal includes the antenna number, time, location, lane location, IU code, smart card code, balance (Sto
red value) and data such as error information.
The response signal includes a new random number for mutual confirmation between the charging antennas 5, 6, and 7 and the on-vehicle device 36 for the purpose of fraud prevention. The error information includes error information for mutual confirmation between the vehicle-mounted device 36 and the smart card 37.

Further, before outputting the response signal, the vehicle-mounted device 36 has not already responded to the charging antennas 5, 6, and 7 (Already response: double charging), or has to go back on the road. Before passing through the first gantry 1, it is confirmed whether there is a sequence error such as passing through the second gantry 2. The antenna controller 29, which has received the response signal from the vehicle-mounted device 36 via the charging antennas 5, 6, and 7, performs mutual confirmation with the vehicle-mounted device 36 using the new random number, and transmits the data to the local controller 33. In the present embodiment, the mutual confirmation between the in-vehicle device 36 and the charging antennas 5 to 7 is performed by using a random number. However, in order to completely prevent fraud, it is preferable to encrypt the message by some method.

The local controller 33 has a vehicle-mounted device 36
, And confirms the information by the following processing as shown in FIG. Mutual confirmation error between in-vehicle device 36 and antenna Mutual confirmation error between in-vehicle device 36 and smart card 37 Validity of IU IU type Presence of smart card Validity of smart card

Violation of the above (Violatio)
If n), the vehicle is an illegally passing vehicle and cannot be charged. If the above is normal, it is normally charged. In the case of IU type = 4 in the above description, since the vehicle is a public vehicle such as a bus exempted from charging, the vehicle is not normally charged. These results are recorded as communication results. Then, in the case of a billing target, the billing value corresponding to the IU type is read out, and the billing value and the billing history (Transaction) are transmitted via billing antennas 5, 6, and 7 specified by the antenna number.
The charging information including n) is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 36.

The in-vehicle device 36 that has received the billing information including the billing value and the like transmits to the billing antennas 5, 6, and 7 as a reception completion signal that the billing information such as the billing value has been normally received. Further, the antenna controller 29 receives the reception completion signal via the charging antennas 5, 6, and 7.
Transmits to the local controller 33 and the in-vehicle device 36 that the reception completion signal has been normally received. Also at this time, mutual confirmation is performed using random numbers in the same manner as described above. If the balance of the smart card 37 is equal to or less than the charge value, the charge cannot be withheld. Therefore, after reading the charge value, the vehicle is processed as an illegally passing vehicle that cannot be charged normally. However, the processing is omitted in the figure.

Next, the local controller 33
After receiving the reception completion signal as shown in (1), the following processing is performed until the vehicle reaches the second gantry. Blacklist check of vehicle-mounted device 36 Blacklist check of smart card If the above applies, it is regarded as an illegally passing vehicle that cannot be charged normally.

The result is recorded as a communication result for a confirmation process when passing through the second gantry 2. The blacklist refers to a blacklist in which a history of illegally modifying an IU code, a smart card code, or the like is registered in advance. Blacklists shall be kept at all outstations and regularly updated by the CCS.
Contact and update. In the case where the post-payment method is adopted as the charging method, the black list includes those that could not be normally withdrawn from the bank account deposit value and processed.

The vehicle-mounted device 36 performs the following processing until the vehicle reaches the second gantry 2. First, the in-vehicle device 36 transmits a billing withdrawal instruction to the smart card 37, and the smart card 37 that has received the withdrawal instruction.
Performs the withdrawal of the charge from the balance in the smart card, and transmits the completion of the withdrawal to the in-vehicle device 36. Next, the in-vehicle device 36 that has received the withdrawal completion transmits a charging history writing instruction to the smart card 37, and the smart card 37 that has received the charging history writing instruction
The charging history is written, and the completion of the writing is notified
Send to Further, the in-vehicle device 36 receiving the write completion
When the smart card 37 receives the read instruction to read the updated balance, the smart card 37 receives the read instruction, reads the updated balance, and transmits the updated balance to the vehicle-mounted device 36. The in-vehicle device 36 that has received the updated balance records the balance inside.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 10, the VPD master controller 31 controls the front and rear ends of the vehicle passing through the second gantry 2 to be detected by the vehicle detectors 14 to 19, and detects the detected vehicle. The information is transmitted to the local controller 33. The vehicle detection information includes a date, a time, and the like. Further, it is desirable to include identification information of a single vehicle and other than a single vehicle, and translation information of a single vehicle in the same lane, depending on the vehicle width. Then, the local controller 33
While receiving and recording the vehicle detection information, it activates only the confirmation antennas 20 to 22 specified by the position of the vehicle passing through the third gantry 3, that is, when the vehicle travels in the lane, The confirmation antennas 20 to 22 corresponding to the lanes are activated, but when the vehicle crosses two lanes, the two confirmation antennas 20 to 22 corresponding to the straddling lane are activated (the flowchart is omitted in the flowchart). did).

It is to be noted that the confirmation antennas 20 to 22 are always activated similarly to the billing antennas 5, 6, 7 so that
Can be communicated wirelessly, but in the case of this embodiment,
It is assumed that only those specified by the local controller 33 are activated. Therefore, the activated specific confirmation antennas 20 to 22 output a response request signal, and the second
In-vehicle device 36 mounted on a vehicle passing through gantry 2
Receives the response request signal, transmits the response signal to the confirmation antennas 20 to 22 after mutual confirmation. On this occasion,
It is also confirmed whether or not there is a double charge and whether there is a sequence error. The response request signal and the response signal have the same contents as those when passing through the first gantry 1. However, it is assumed that the balance included in the response signal is a value after the withdrawal processing has already been performed using the billing value.

The antenna controller 3 receives the response signal from the vehicle-mounted device 36 via the confirmation antennas 20 to 22.
0 transmits the data to the local controller 33 after the mutual confirmation, and the local controller 33 confirms the information of the vehicle-mounted device 36 by the method of FIG.
Based on the U code, the vehicle is checked against the communication results with the charging antennas 5, 6, 7 for errors in the vehicle identification. Further, for the vehicle to be charged, it is confirmed whether or not the value of the balance is normally withdrawn and processed based on the charged value. A vehicle whose billing value has not been normally removed and processed is determined to be an unauthorized vehicle, and the communication result is recorded.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 11, the VS master controller 32 controls the rear end of the vehicle passing through the third gantry 3 to be detected by the vehicle separators 23 to 28, and outputs the detected vehicle detection information. Local controller 3
Send to 3. The vehicle detection information includes a date, a time, and the like. Further, it is desirable to include identification information of a single vehicle and other than a single vehicle, and translation information of a single vehicle in the same lane, depending on the vehicle width. The local controller 33 includes the vehicle separators 23 to
The vehicle detection signal from the vehicle 28 is received and recorded, and the vehicle detection signal from the vehicle detectors 14 to 19 is compared with the vehicle detection signal to identify the passing vehicle, and whether the vehicle has no IU or does not respond to the communication. No, and from the record of the communication result of the vehicle, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is an illegally passing vehicle, or whether or not the vehicle falls under a blacklist and is regarded as an illegally passing vehicle.

Here, the specification of the passing vehicle is, in principle,
It is assumed that a vehicle other than a single vehicle travels straight in a lane, and that lane movement due to skewing is considered to be within a maximum of three lanes. In the case of an IU non-owned or illegally passing vehicle, or a vehicle that falls under the blacklist and is considered an illegally passing vehicle,
It is determined whether or not ECS imaging conditions are met. If the shooting conditions are met, the monitoring commands 8 to 13 corresponding to the vehicle specified by the vehicle detection signal are designated, and a shooting command is transmitted to the ECS.

The ECS uses the designated monitoring cameras 8 to 13 to photograph the rear image of the illegally passing vehicle including the license plate according to the photographing command received through the controller interface unit 53. The image information of the photographed illegally passing vehicle is temporarily stored in the camera interface unit 48, and additional information such as vehicle detection information, time, and location of the vehicle received by the controller interface unit 53 is input. It is paused and displayed on the image display unit 55, and the image compression / decompression unit 49
And recorded on the hard disk unit 50.

The image communication command from the CCS is transmitted to the transmission unit 5
2, the compressed image information (including the additional information) specified by the image communication command is transmitted to the CCS via the transmission unit 52. On the other hand, if the ECS imaging conditions are not satisfied, the imaging is stopped and the vehicle detectors 14 to 14 are stopped.
The vehicle detection signal and the communication result obtained by the vehicle 19 and the vehicle separators 23 to 28 are transmitted to the CCS and recorded as the passage history of the CCS. After transmitting to the CCS, the vehicle detection signal and the communication result are deleted.

Next, a TDMA system adopted as a radio communication method between the charging antenna and the IU will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, as shown in FIG.
The communication area of NT5 is arranged so as to cover each lane, and the adjacent communication areas partially overlap. If transmission is simultaneously performed from each of the antennas ANT1 to ANT5 in such a state that the communication area of each charging antenna partially overlaps, mutual signals may interfere with each other and normal reception may not be performed.

Therefore, the antenna controller operates each AN.
T1 to ANT5 are activated by time division multiplex antenna. That is, as shown in FIG. 14, ANT1 and LANE1
Communicates with IUs of vehicles passing through, and then
Communication is performed between the ANT2 and the IU of the vehicle passing through the LANE2, and thereafter, communication is performed between the ANT3 and the IU of the vehicle passing through the LANE3. is there. Then, until communication between all the antennas ANT1 to ANT5 and the IU of the vehicle passing through the LANE1 to LANE5 is completed, one slot is set. It repeats in order.

Here, the communication contents are as follows: first, a response request signal E indicating that the antenna should be activated from the antenna to the IU, vehicle information such as an IU code, a smart card code, etc., from the IU to the antenna; A response signal A including personal information is responded. Based on the IU code, the smart card code, and the like included in the signal A, the antenna controller determines whether or not to be charged, and further, determines a charging value. Then, after the lapse of one slot, if it is to be charged, information including the charging value is transmitted as a signal R from the antenna. Upon receiving this, the IU transmits a response completion signal D indicating that it has been received normally. That is, after the antenna and the IU exchange the response request signal E and the response signal A, the antenna and the IU send specific transmission contents as the signal R, and further confirm with the response completion signal D.

As described above, even when the communication areas of a plurality of antennas overlap, they are activated in a time division multiplex manner.
Interference between the antennas can be prevented. But,
When multiple IUs respond to one antenna at the same time, for example, when two single cars translate in one lane and each IU responds to one antenna at the same time, Radio waves collide (Collisio
n). Of course, the probability is thought to be very rare, but it cannot be ruled out.

Therefore, assuming such a case, the time division multiplex antenna activation is repeatedly performed with an arbitrary time delay. That is, as shown in FIG. 15, two IU1 and IU2
Coexist in the communication area of ANT2, and IU3
If it exists in the overlapping part of the communication area of NT2 and ANT3, IU
1, IU2 and IU3 simultaneously respond to the response signal A,
At T2, three response signals A collide. When such a radio wave collision occurs, the antenna controller cannot recognize that the IU exists in the lane. Therefore, the response request signal E is repeatedly transmitted via the antenna.

On the other hand, after the IU1, IU2, and IU3 simultaneously transmit the response signal A, if the signal R for the billing information is not transmitted from the antenna within a predetermined time, it is estimated that a radio wave collision has occurred, and the random number is determined. After an arbitrary time delay by N, the response signal A is responded to the response request signal E. For example, as shown in FIG.
In the case of 3, the response signal A is responded to the response request signal E from ANT2 after delaying three times the time of one slot. When the random number N = 2 in IU2, after delaying twice the time of one slot,
The response signal A is responded to the response request signal E from ANT2. When the random number N = 3 in IU3, the response signal A is responded to the response request signal E from ANT3 instead of ANT2 after delaying three times the time of one slot.

Here, if the random numbers of each IU coincide with each other by chance, the collision of radio waves will occur again. However, the random numbers are repeatedly generated until the communication is completed normally, and the random number is delayed for an arbitrary time. Finally, by repeating the communication, it is possible to finally respond normally. in this way,
When the TDMA method is adopted, even when a plurality of vehicles translate and continue in a communication area of one antenna,
Even if the vehicle travels at a high speed and congestion occurs, communication can be performed between each IU and the antenna in order, so that the vehicle can be reliably identified and billed accurately. In the above description, the case of a plurality of lanes has been described for the sake of convenience. However, even in the case of a single lane, the translation of a single vehicle or the like is expected, so the TDMA method described above is very effective. It is.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 1 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
7, shown in FIG. This embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment, and includes vehicle separators 23 to 28 and vehicle detectors 14 to 19.
A photoelectric tube is used instead of a one-dimensional CCD camera. That is, the light receiving unit 57 is provided in the second gantry 2,
A large number of light receiving portions 58 are arranged in the third gantry 3 along the horizontal direction, and a large number of light emitting portions 59, 60 are arranged in the road vertically below the light receiving portions 57, 58 along the horizontal direction. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above, and the description is omitted.

In this embodiment, when the vehicle does not pass through the second gantry 2 and the third gantry 3, the light emitting section 59,
The light emitted vertically upward from the light receiving section 57
58, but when the vehicle passes through the second gantry 2 and the third gantry 3, the light emitted vertically upward from the light emitting units 59 and 60 is blocked by the vehicle, and the light receiving units 57 and
Do not reach 58. Therefore, by analyzing the signals detected by the light receiving units 57 and 58, the position of the vehicle in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction can be detected.

In particular, in the method using a phototube as a vehicle separator and a vehicle detector as in this embodiment, a one-dimensional CCD is used.
Blind spots are less likely to occur than in the case where a camera is used, so that, for example, a single vehicle that translates beside a large vehicle can be reliably detected. Further, since the vehicle separation accuracy depends on the arrangement interval of the phototubes, the closer the phototubes are arranged, the more the vehicle separation accuracy can be improved.
In addition, the light emitting parts 59, 6 laid on the road with the traffic of the vehicle
Since the surface of No. 0 is expected to be contaminated, maintenance such as periodic cleaning is required.

[Embodiment 3] FIG. 1 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
9 to FIG. The present embodiment relates to a so-called two-gantry system in which the functions of the second gantry and the third gantry in the first embodiment are integrated into one gantry. That is, as shown in FIG. 19, in the out station, two gantry 61, 62 and the control room 4 are provided in order to mainly realize the functions of AVID and ECS.

As shown in FIG. 20, the distance between the first gantry (hereinafter referred to as first gantry) 61 and the next gantry (hereinafter referred to as second gantry) 62 is about 20 m in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The height of the first and second gantry 61, 62 is about 6 m. The first gantry 61 has three charging antennas 6 corresponding to each lane.
3, 64, 65 are attached along the lateral direction,
Six surveillance cameras 6 for shooting unauthorized vehicles
6, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 are mounted along the lateral direction.

The communication area of the charging antennas 63, 64, 65 is about 3 m further from about 1 m ahead of the first gantry 61.
m (the hatched area in the figure).
The monitoring cameras 66 to 71 are attached at positions immediately after passing through the second gantry 62 so that images including license plates of vehicles passing therethrough can be taken. As the monitoring cameras 66 to 71, monochrome CCD cameras with electronic shutters are used so that captured images can be digitally processed. Although omitted in the drawing, it is desirable to provide a lighting device in consideration of a case where the amount of outdoor light is insufficient.

In the first gantry 61, one-dimensional CCD cameras are mounted along the lateral direction as three vehicle detectors 72, 73, 74 corresponding to the respective lanes, and these vehicle detectors 72, 73 are provided. , 74 are charging antennas 63,
It is assumed that a photograph is taken obliquely about 1 m ahead of the communication areas 64 and 65, and a black and white periodic mark 61a is laid on the road at that position along the horizontal direction. Further, immediately before the periodic mark 61a, loop coils 75, 76, 77 are laid in correspondence with the respective lanes. These loop coils are connected to the vehicle detectors 72, 7
It is provided so that the vehicle can be detected more reliably in cooperation with the third and the third aspects.

On the other hand, on the second gantry 62, three confirmation antennas 78, 79, 80 corresponding to each lane are mounted along the lateral direction. Confirmation antenna 78, 7
The communication area of 9,80 is about 1m of the second gantry 62
It is a range from the front to about 3 m ahead (shown by hatching in the figure). In the second gantry 62, three vehicle separators 81, 82, and 83 are arranged along the lateral direction corresponding to each lane, and three vehicle detectors 84, 85, and 3 corresponding to each lane. 86 are arranged along the lateral direction.

The vehicle separators 81, 82, and 83 take images immediately below the second gantry 62, and black and white periodic marks 62a are laid along the lateral direction on the road at that position. The vehicle detectors 84, 85, and 86 are to take an image about 1 m ahead of the communication area of the confirmation antennas 78, 79, and 80 at an angle, and a black-and-white periodic mark 62b is horizontally displayed on the road at that position. It is laid along.

Further, immediately before the periodic mark 62a, the loop coils 87, 8 corresponding to the respective lanes are provided.
8,89 are laid. These loop coils 87,
Reference numerals 88 and 89 are provided so that the vehicle can be detected more reliably in cooperation with the vehicle detectors 84, 85 and 86. The periodic marks 61a, 62a and 6 of this embodiment
Although 2b has a checkered pattern, it may have a lattice pattern as in the above-described embodiment.

The above-described charging antennas 63, 64, 6
5. Confirmation antennas 78, 79, 80, vehicle detector 7
2, 73, 74, 84, 85, 86, the vehicle separator 81,
82, 83 and loop coils 75, 76, 77, 87,
To control 88 and 89, the control room 4 is provided with an antenna controller, a local controller, a VPD master controller, a VS master controller, an ECS, and the like. That is, as shown in FIG. 21, the charging antennas 63, 64, 65 are connected to an antenna controller 90, and the antenna controller 29 communicates with the vehicle-mounted device via the charging antennas 63, 64, 65. The communication is to receive vehicle information and personal information and to transmit a billing value.

Further, the vehicle detectors 63, 64, 65 and the loop coils 75, 76, 77 are connected to a VPD master controller 91.
1 is a vehicle detector 63, 64, 65 and a loop coil 7
The front end and rear end positions of the vehicle detected by 5, 76, 77 are output to the antenna controller 90 to activate a specific confirmation antenna. Vehicle detector 6
With only 3, 64, 65, something other than a vehicle, for example,
Although there is a risk of erroneously detecting people, dust, leaves of trees, and the like, the combined use of the loop coils 75, 76, and 77 makes it possible to detect that the vehicle is not a vehicle if it is not made of metal. The loop coils 75, 76, and 77 may be used at all times, or may be used with a limited time and period.

The confirmation antennas 78, 79, and 80 are connected to an antenna controller 92. The antenna controller 92 communicates the vehicle information and personal information by wireless communication with the vehicle-mounted device via the confirmation antennas 78, 79, and 80. Information is received. Further, the vehicle detectors 84, 85,
85 and the loop coils 87, 88, 89 are connected to a VPD master controller 93. The VPD master controller 93 is connected to the vehicle detectors 84, 85, 85 and the loop coils 87, 88, 89. The rear end position is output to the antenna controller 92 to activate a specific confirmation antenna.

With the vehicle detectors 84, 85 and 86 alone, there is a possibility that something other than the vehicle, for example, a person, dust, leaves of a tree, etc. may be erroneously detected. However, by using the loop coils 87, 88 and 89 together, If it is not made of metal, it is possible to detect that it is not a vehicle. Loop coil 87, 8
8, 89 may be used at all times, or may be used with a limited time and period. Also, the vehicle separators 81, 82,
83 is connected to the VS master controller 94,
This VS master controller 94 includes a vehicle separator 81,
The rear end position of the vehicle detected by 82 and 83 is transmitted to the ECS, and in the case of an illegally passing vehicle, an image including a license plate of the vehicle is photographed by a monitoring camera (not shown).

Further, antenna controllers 90 and 92,
The VPD master controllers 91 and 93 and the VS master controller 94 are connected to a local controller 95. The local controller 95 should be charged based on the vehicle information and personal information received by the charging antennas 65, 66 and 67. It is determined whether the vehicle information and the personal information are normal, and if the vehicle is normally charged, a billing value corresponding to the vehicle type is output to the antenna controller 90.
The vehicle information and the personal information obtained from are compared with the blacklist. If the vehicle information corresponds to the blacklist, the vehicle is regarded as abnormal and the ECS takes an image of the vehicle.

The ECS determines the vehicle information or personal information by the local controller 95 as not normal, or determines the position of the illegally passing vehicle which is judged to be illegal according to the black list by the vehicle separators 83 and 8485. And the monitoring cameras 66 to 71 corresponding to the position
Is used to photograph an illegally passing vehicle. EC
S can communicate with the local controller 95 and the VS master controller 94 via the ECS interface 96. Further, the local controller 95 can communicate with a high-speed digital communication network such as an ISDN connected to the central processing unit via the digital interface 97.

As the in-vehicle device, the smart card, and the ECS, those similar to those in the first embodiment can be used. The method of implementing the ERP system of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment. However, the charging antennas 65, 66, and 67 are not always in a state of being activated, and the vehicle detectors 63, 64, and 65 and the loop coil 7 are not activated.
The difference is that only the vehicle that covers the vehicle detected by 5, 76, 77 is specified and activated. That is, the vehicles approaching the first gantry 61 are the vehicle detectors 63, 64, 6.
5 and the loop coils 75, 76, 77 detect the lane position, and when the lane position is transmitted to the local controller 95 via the VPD master controller 91, the local controller 95 Activate the antenna to communicate with the vehicle's onboard equipment.

In this way, the plurality of charging antennas are not always activated, which contributes to cost savings. In addition, since the loop coils 75, 76, 77 are used in combination, the antennas other than the vehicle are used. Is not erroneously detected.
However, a plurality of vehicles may be translated at the same time. In this case, a plurality of billing antennas are activated at the same time.
It is desirable to adopt the A method.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 2 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
It is shown in FIG. This embodiment relates to a so-called one gantry system in which the functions of the first gantry, the second gantry, and the third gantry in the first embodiment are integrated into one gantry. That is, as shown in FIG. 22, the charging antennas 98, 99, 100, the vehicle detectors 101, 102,
103, equipped with vehicle separators 104, 105, 106,
These are supplied to the antenna controller 107, VPD master controller 108, VS master controller 10
9 through the local controller 110.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that a credit card system (post-payment system) is adopted as a charging system, the balance is not recorded on the smart card, and the charging antenna is
No billing value is transmitted to U. It is assumed that the billing value is deducted at a later date not from the balance of the smart card but from the deposit value of a predetermined bank account. Therefore, in this embodiment,
A confirmation antenna for confirming whether or not the withdrawal process has been performed normally in each IU is not required. Where E
In order for CS to capture the rear image of an illegally passing vehicle,
It is necessary to predict the time from the vehicle separators 104, 105, and 106 to the photographing position. For that purpose, a vehicle speed sensor that measures the speed of the vehicle is required.

The local controller determines that the vehicle is E
There is not enough time to check against the blacklist before reaching the shooting position by CS, so all the vehicles are shot for the time being by ECS, and after checking against the blacklist, the image signal Should be deleted.

[0080]

As described above in detail with reference to the embodiments, the present invention provides a time division method as a communication method using a plurality of antennas when a vehicle freely passes on a road having a plurality of lanes. By employing the multiple access method, even when a plurality of vehicles translate and continue in one communication area, and run at a high speed or are congested, it is possible to identify the plurality of vehicles reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overhead view showing a three gantry system according to a first embodiment of an electronic toll collection system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a layout view of the three gantry system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the three gantry system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an in-vehicle device and a smart card.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a prepaid card system.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a credit card method.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for implementing the electronic toll collection system of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a method for implementing the electronic toll collection system of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for implementing the electronic toll collection system of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a method for implementing the electronic toll collection system of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for implementing the electronic toll collection system of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an illegally passing vehicle photographing means.

FIG. 13 is a layout diagram of a charging antenna corresponding to a multi-lane road.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a time division multiple access method.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a communication area of a charging antenna and a vehicle.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a time division multiple access method.

FIG. 17 shows a second embodiment of the electronic toll collection system of the present invention.
It is a bird's-eye view which shows the modification of the three gantry system which concerns on Example.

FIG. 18 is a layout view of the three gantry system of the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a third embodiment of the electronic toll collection system according to the present invention;
It is an overhead view which shows the two-gantry system which concerns on Example.

FIG. 20 is a layout view of the three gantry system of the third embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a three gantry system according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a fourth embodiment of the electronic toll collection system according to the present invention;
It is an overhead view which shows the two-gantry system which concerns on Example.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional toll collection system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 First Gantry 2 Second Gantry 3 Third Gantry 4 Control Room 5,6,7 Billing Antenna 8,9,10,11,12,13 Monitoring Camera 14,15,16,17,18,19 Vehicle Detection Device 20, 21, 22 Confirmation antenna 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 Vehicle separator 29, 30 Antenna controller 31 VPD master controller 32 VS master controller 33 Local controller 34 ECS interface 35 Diginet interface 36 In-vehicle device 37 Smart card 38 In-vehicle device registration system 39 In-vehicle device number input device 40 Total processing device 41 Prepaid writer 42 Printer 43 Violation vehicle confirmation system 44 Credit card management system 45 Central processing unit 46 Card history storage device 47 Centers 48 camera interface 49 the image compression decompression unit 50 hard disk unit 51 CPU 52 Transmission unit 53 controller interface unit 54 for maintenance interface 55 image display unit 56 and other interface

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Keiichi Morishita 2-1-1 Shinhama, Arai-machi, Takasago-shi, Hyogo Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Inside Takasago Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Fumitoshi Tachikawa Road No. 1 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Nagoya Kiki Seisakusho (72) Inventor Hisao Shigenaga 1-1, Wadazakicho, Hyogo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo Prefecture Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Kobe Shipyard (72) Inventor Michio Hamana 2-1-1 Shinhama, Arai-machi, Takasago City, Hyogo Prefecture Inside the Takasago Research Laboratory, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (56) References International Publication 92/15978 (WO, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle that freely travels between lanes on a road having one or more lanes, an on-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle, storing unique information, and having wireless communication means, A vehicle identification device for identifying the vehicle by wireless communication with the in-vehicle device via the antenna, comprising: In order to prevent interference between antennas, a vehicle identification device that performs wireless communication with each antenna in a time-division manner is used.
The response request signal from the antenna
The in-vehicle device simultaneously outputs a response signal and responds with the antenna.
If the response signal collides, the response signal is received normally.
A response request signal to the in-vehicle device until the antenna
From the on-board unit.
Within a predetermined time after transmitting the response signal,
When a predetermined signal is not received from the
After delaying by different times depending on the number,
And transmitting the response signal again in a time-division manner .