JP3317887B2 - Automotive remote control system - 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 remote control system, and more particularly, to a vehicle remote control system using a telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, systems for remotely controlling an automobile using a telephone are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 8-79831, 7-264315 and 4-26.
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8860 is known. On the other hand, a door lock of a vehicle body is remotely controlled by using an infrared remote controller or a weak radio wave remote controller.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional remote control system for an automobile has the following problems. The former remote control using a telephone is charged each time an operation is performed, which is expensive. The latter remote control operation has a very narrow geographical range in which remote operation is possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a remote control system for an automobile capable of increasing the usable range while reducing running costs.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle body side control means for controlling various parts of an automobile.
And a PHS interface added to the vehicle body side control means.
Source part, this PHS interface part and the external PHS end
Communication with the terminal through communication via the PHS network or direct communication
Vehicle with a mode switching unit that switches to a connection mode
Remote control system, wherein the vehicle body side control means is
When a state change in each part of the moving vehicle is detected,
The mode switching section is controlled by the body-side control means,
Communication from PHS interface to upper external PHS terminal
Communication is performed in a connection mode via the PHS network . In the invention configured as described above,
When a state change in each part is detected, the vehicle-side control
On the stage side, the external P
Automatic calling to HS terminals in connection mode via PHS network
It is possible to transmit the state of the car when necessary.

[0006] For example, if activated by a car theft device or the like, when a mischief or theft occurs, it is notified to an external PHS terminal owned by the operator.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a vehicle remote control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a car 10 has a PHS interface 11 having a function as a normal PHS terminal.
The operator has a normal PHS terminal 20, and these can communicate with each other via a general PHS network 30. In addition to being able to communicate with each other via the PHS network 30, a direct connection called a so-called transceiver function is also possible with the PHS terminal.
The former communication mode is called PHS network connection, and the latter communication mode is called direct connection.

On the other hand, the automobile 10, the mode switching unit 11a which to switch the communication mode of the PHS interface portion 11 is provided, the mode switching unit 21 to switch the same communication mode to the PHS terminal 20 is provided, By these, the PHS interface unit 1
By making the communication modes of the PHS terminal 1 and the PHS terminal 20 coincide with each other, mutual communication becomes possible. On the other hand, an engine 12, various lighting devices 13, a horn 14, an air conditioner 15, and a locking device 16 are provided as essential components of the automobile 10, and a control unit 18 for appropriately controlling these components is connected. The control unit 18 and the PHS interface unit 11 are connected to each other, and control commands received by the PHS interface unit 11 are transmitted to the control unit 1.
The PHS interface unit 11 can output data to the PHS interface 8 and control commands generated by the control unit 18.

[0009] Here, FIG. 1 is the mode switching unit 1
1a and the mode switching unit 21 set the communication mode of the PHS interface unit 11 and the PHS terminal 20 to P.
Set to HS network connection and send from PHS terminal 20 to P
This shows a state where an incoming call is made to the HS interface unit 11. When the distance between the operator and the car is long, P
If an HS network connection is made, communication becomes possible within the PHS connection area.

In FIG. 2, similarly, the communication mode of the PHS interface unit 11 and the communication mode of the PHS terminal 20 are directly connected by the mode switching unit 11a and the mode switching unit 21. This shows a state where an incoming call is made to the unit 11. In this case, the distance between the operator and the car is short, and if direct connection is made, no charge is made because the connection does not pass through the PHS network. In general, the communication mode is usually set by an operator before performing communication. On the other hand, in FIG. 3, a timer 11b is connected to the mode switching unit 11a, and the timer 11b is connected to the mode switching unit 11a.
, An activation signal is transmitted at regular intervals. Then
The mode switching unit 11a switches the communication mode of the PHS interface unit 11 each time the start signal is received. This time is set, for example, every 10 seconds.
When communication is started in the PHS interface unit 11, the communication mode does not change until the communication ends.

In this way, if the operator determines that the vehicle 10 is nearby, the call may be transmitted in the direct connection mode, and if the vehicle 10 is far away, the signal may be transmitted in the PHS network connection mode. In any case, since the PHS interface unit 11 switches the communication mode every 10 seconds, the transmission is detected and the reception is possible. In any case, the operator of the PHS terminal 20 has his / her own car 1
By operating the PHS terminal 20 to remotely control the PHS 0, communication with the PHS interface unit 11 is started, and after starting the communication, a predetermined control command is input. This control command is PH
The data is input to the control unit 18 via the S interface unit 11, and the control unit 18 determines the content of the control command.

[0012] Control commands, to those corresponding to the operation instruction, there is a one corresponding to the state detection, as the former control commands, start / stop of the engine 12, ON / OFF of various lighting instruments such 13, horn acids 14, ON / OFF of the air conditioner 15, temperature setting of the air conditioner 15, ON / OFF of the locking device 16, and the like are prepared. When the control command corresponds to these operation instructions, the control unit 18 executes the specified control according to the content of the control command.

Meanwhile, when the control command which corresponds to the state detection, the control unit 18 detects a status corresponding to the contents of the control command, and transmits to the PHS terminal 20 via the PHS interface portion 11 . That is, the control unit 18 determines the control command, and
Start / stop state, ON / OFF state of various lighting devices 13, temperature setting state of air conditioner 15, ON of lock device 16
A control command indicating a status such as the / OFF state is sent back. Then, the operator receives the control command at the PHS terminal 20 and determines the state of the vehicle 10.

[0014] On the other hand, in the controller 18, PHS interface portion 1 when a pre-specified state change has occurred
It is also possible to cause the PHS terminal 20 to automatically make an outgoing call via the terminal 1. FIG. 4 shows a state in this case, and the control unit 1
Reference numeral 8 denotes a start / stop state of the engine 12 and O of the locking device 16.
When the N / OFF state changes, an automatic transmission is performed. In this case, the control unit 18 may change the mode switching unit 11a to the PHS network connection mode so that the incoming call can be reliably received even when the operator is not nearby. The presence / absence of such automatic transmission and the instruction to switch the communication mode are PHS
What is necessary is just to input the corresponding control command from the terminal 20, and let the control part 18 determine.

The start / stop state of the engine 12, the change in the ON / OFF state of the locking device 16 has the effect that it is possible to notify the potential for risk of theft or mischief occurs in substantial sense. As described above, according to the present embodiment, control can be performed from any remote location as long as the PHS can be used by using a PHS terminal without using a dedicated wireless device as in the related art.・ Detection is possible. These controls and detections are performed by the engine 1 of the automobile.
2. A function equivalent to a PHS terminal is added to a control unit 18 for controlling various lighting devices 13, a horn 14, an air conditioner 15, a locking device 16 and the like, and a PHS terminal 2 held by a remote operator is provided.
A method of transmitting / receiving a control command through a PHS network or by directly connecting PHS terminals to each other is adopted.

When controlling the vehicle 10, a predetermined control command is input from a PHS terminal 20 of a remote operator, and the control unit 1 of the vehicle 10 having a function equivalent to the PHS terminal.
8 determines whether the command has been received, and executes a predetermined control. In addition, the detection of the state of the car 10 is performed by the P
A control command for designating information to be detected is input from the HS terminal 20, the control unit 18 of the vehicle 10 receives and determines the control command, and sends back desired information as a control command. The PHS terminal 20 on the operator side can detect the state of the vehicle 10 by receiving and discriminating the control command.

Furthermore, remote information to be detected by the operator, may be set to the control unit 18 of the pre-motor vehicle 10, when there is a change in the state of the desired information, automatically controlling unit 18 of the automobile 10 A predetermined control command is sent to the PHS terminal 20 of the local operator. As described above, the PHS terminal 20 is used as a wireless device for controlling the automobile 10 from a remote place, and the engine 12, various lighting devices 13, and horns 1 of the automobile 10 are used.
4. The PHS interface unit 11 for providing a function equivalent to a PHS terminal to the control unit 18 for controlling the air conditioner 15, the locking device 16, and the like allows the PHS to be held by the operator.
From the terminal 20, control and status detection of each of the above units is enabled,
Further, it is possible to prevent the unauthorized use of a third party, and to improve the safety such as alerting a car of mischief or theft.

[0018]

As described above, the present invention provides a remote control system for an automobile that enables remote operation from a long distance by using a telephone, but does not necessarily require charging. it can. In particular, each part of the car
When the state change in the vehicle body is detected,
On the side, from the PHS interface unit to the external PHS
The status of the automatic operator in the connection mode via the PHS network for the terminal
Because the change is transmitted, the holder of the PHS terminal is far away
Be sure to signal changes in the state of the car, even when
be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram when a control command is transmitted and received in a PHS network connection mode in a vehicle remote control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram when a control command is transmitted and received in a direct connection mode in a remote control system of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a state in which a communication control mode is automatically switched and a reception standby is performed in a vehicle remote control system according to another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram when an automatic transmission is performed from a vehicle side in a vehicle remote control system according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 automobile 11 PHS interface unit 11a mode switching unit 11b timer 12 engine 13 various lighting devices 14 horns 15 air conditioner 16 locking device 18 control unit 20 PHS terminal 21 mode switching unit 30 PHS network

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04M 11/00-11/10 H04Q ^7/ 00-7/38

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle body side control means for controlling each part of an automobile.
And a PHS interface added to the vehicle-side control means
Unit, and communication between the PHS interface unit and an external PHS terminal
To the connection mode via communication via the PHS network or direct communication.
Control of a vehicle equipped with a mode switching unit for switching to a mode
In the system, the vehicle-side control means detects a state change in each part of the automobile.
When it is detected, the mode is controlled by the vehicle-side control means.
The PHS interface unit.
The communication to the external PHS terminal is connected via the PHS network.
Vehicle remote control system, characterized in that to perform in de.