JP4349326B2 - Vehicle communication device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular communication apparatus used in an automatic toll collection system (ETC system) that collects usage charges non-stop at a toll gate on a toll road, for example.

  The ETC system consists of an in-vehicle device (vehicle communication device) that is mounted on a vehicle so that an IC card can be attached, and a roadside device that is installed at an exit toll gate on an toll road or an entrance toll gate and communicates with the on-vehicle device wirelessly It is configured. In the ETC system, an IC card on which IC card contract information and tollgate information is recorded is mounted (inserted) on a vehicle-mounted device in which vehicle information is registered in advance.

  In this configuration, when a vehicle approaches an exit toll gate on the toll road or an entrance toll gate, the roadside equipment installed at the toll gate communicates wirelessly with the vehicle-mounted device through a wireless antenna, and the vehicle information, contract information, and toll gate Information is read out and the toll for the vehicle is automatically settled.

  In addition, the tollgate information and billing information received from the roadside device when passing through the tollgate are configured to be recorded on an IC card inserted in the vehicle-mounted device. Thereby, conventionally, since the charging process can be performed via wireless communication instead of the charging process via the magnetic card, the vehicle does not need to be temporarily stopped at the toll gate.

  By the way, the current ETC system uses a contact type IC card. Of the information necessary for the billing process, the IC card contract information is IC card identification information, expiration date information, or information related to payment, and is information recorded inside when the IC card is issued. Further, the vehicle information is information representing vehicle characteristics such as the shape and weight of the vehicle, and these pieces of information are information stored in the storage unit inside the vehicle-mounted device when the vehicle-mounted device is set up in the target vehicle. .

  Furthermore, the tollgate information necessary for the billing process is entrance information and traffic history information received by wireless communication with the roadside device, and the latest information received when passing through the ETC tollgate is recorded on the IC card. Has been. This toll gate information is read out via wireless communication at the next toll gate, and charging processing can be performed by knowing which toll gate has passed.

Further, when accessing the IC card from the vehicle-mounted device, normally, the command is transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device to the IC card, and the response from the IC card is received by the vehicle-mounted device. In this case, when recording information on the IC card, if a write command and data to be written are transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device to the IC card, the writing process is executed in the IC card, and then a response indicating that the writing is completed from the IC card. It is configured to be transmitted to the on-vehicle device and received by the on-vehicle device. When reading information from the IC card, a read command is transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device to the IC card to specify information to be read. Then, the reading process is executed by the IC card, and then the response result (response indicating that the reading is completed) and the read data are transmitted from the IC card to the vehicle-mounted device and are received by the vehicle-mounted device. .
JP-A-11-195152

  The above-described conventional ETC system is configured to perform charging processing using information stored in the IC card and to record the result of the charging processing on the IC card by the vehicle-mounted device. If recording on the card fails, correct billing information is not recorded, and there is a problem that billing processing cannot be performed normally at the next toll gate.

  The cause of failure in recording on the IC card is that the contact between the IC card and the reading unit of the vehicle-mounted device becomes poor due to the IC card insertion word, for example, vehicle vibration, etc. There are cases where the electrode part of the IC card is dirty, data communication with the IC card becomes abnormal due to adverse effects such as static electricity, or the IC card itself becomes abnormal.

  As described above, when the recording process to the IC card fails, the vehicle-mounted device transmits a write command to the IC card, but a normal response cannot be obtained from the IC card. Thereby, the vehicle-mounted device is configured to recognize (detect) that the recording process on the IC card has failed. As an example of such a configuration, a configuration shown in Patent Document 1 is known.

  However, in the above-described method of detecting an abnormality, contact between the IC card and the vehicle-mounted device becomes poor or an abnormality occurs on the IC card side until the vehicle-mounted device actually sends some command to the IC card. It is impossible to detect an abnormality such as.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a communication device for a detection vehicle that can quickly detect contact failure of an IC card or the like, or occurrence of an abnormality on the IC card side.

The vehicle communication device of the present invention is configured so that an IC card can be mounted, reads user information recorded on the mounted IC card, and performs wireless communication with a roadside device to charge a usage fee. When the IC card is not accessed , the voltage level of the data line in the communication line connecting the IC card and the vehicle communication device is constantly monitored when the IC card is not accessed. It is characterized by having an abnormality detection means for detecting the abnormality.

  According to the above configuration, the data line in the communication line that connects between the IC card and the vehicle communication device is constantly monitored to detect an abnormality thereof. It is possible to quickly detect the occurrence of an abnormality on the IC card side.

In the case of the above configuration, it is preferable that an abnormality notifying unit for notifying the abnormality when the abnormality detecting unit detects the abnormality of the data line is provided. Furthermore, it is preferable to provide a recovery means for executing a recovery process for automatically eliminating the abnormality when the abnormality detection means detects an abnormality in the data line. Still further, it is more preferable to include a false detection confirmation means for confirming whether or not the abnormality detection is a false detection when the abnormality detection means detects the abnormality of the data line.
Preferably, the abnormality detection means is configured to determine that the data line is abnormal when detecting that the voltage level of the data line has decreased. Furthermore, the abnormality detection means may be configured to determine that the data line is abnormal when a reset response is received from the IC card when the IC card is not accessed. . Still further, it is more preferable that the abnormality detection means is configured to detect a falling edge of the voltage level to a low level when detecting that the voltage level of the data line has decreased. Further, the abnormality detecting means executes a restart process of the IC card when detecting an abnormality of the data line, and prompts not to pull out the IC card during the restart process. It is an even better configuration that it is configured to notify.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an ETC vehicle-mounted device will be described with reference to the drawings. First, as shown in FIG. 1, an ETC vehicle-mounted device (hereinafter referred to as a vehicle-mounted device) 1 as a vehicle communication device mounted on a vehicle includes an antenna 2a of a roadside device 2 provided at a toll gate in the ETC system. Wireless communication with the. The vehicle-mounted device 1 is provided in the vicinity of, for example, a dashboard portion or a driver's seat of a vehicle, and is configured so that an IC card 3 can be mounted.

  In this in-vehicle device 1, the control circuit 4 as an abnormality detection means, an abnormality notification means, a recovery means, and an erroneous detection confirmation means includes a microcomputer, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and corresponds to the billing process of the ETC system. A program is preinstalled so as to operate. A wireless unit 5 and an antenna 6 for communicating with the roadside device 2 are connected to the control circuit 4. In wireless communication with the roadside device 2, communication processing employing a DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) system is performed. The antenna 6 includes one that is provided integrally with the main body of the vehicle-mounted device 1, one that is provided as an independent structure from the main body via a wire, and one that is attached to a windshield.

  In addition to this, an external device connection unit 7, a storage unit 8, a display unit 9, an input operation unit 10, an IC card control unit 11, an IC card connector 12, and the like are connected to the control circuit 4. For example, a car navigation device can be connected to the external device connection unit 7 so that it is possible to provide information useful to the user by using the mutual information by exchanging data. It has become. The storage unit 8 is a non-volatile storage unit typified by a flash memory. The storage unit 8 stores data in which vehicle information and the like are registered in advance when mounted on a vehicle, and stores various data necessary for billing processing. It is configured to be.

  The display unit 9 functions as a notification unit, and notifies the user that the billing process is being performed by a display unit such as an LED, or displays a warning or the like. The display unit 9 may be provided with LEDs of different colors such as “green” for displaying the process in progress and “red” for displaying a warning, or a liquid crystal display unit. The input operation unit 10 receives an operation input for performing various setting operations or displaying predetermined information using operation buttons.

  Note that a car navigation apparatus connected to the external device connection unit 7 can be used as the notification means. Information for voice guidance is transmitted from the control circuit 4 using, for example, a speaker of a car navigation device, thereby enabling notification by voice.

  The IC card control unit 11 is for recognizing the IC card 3 attached to the IC card connector 12 and exchanging data. Specifically, the control of the control circuit 4 controls the data exchange as will be described later. The IC card connector 12 is a connector that includes an electrode portion that is in electrical contact with an electrode portion provided on the IC card 3.

  In addition, each part of the vehicle-mounted device 1 is supplied with power from the power supply unit 13, and the power supply unit 13 is connected from the vehicle-mounted battery via an accessory switch (ACC switch) of a key switch, and the accessory switch is turned on. Then, a predetermined DC voltage is generated and supplied.

  The IC card 3 is provided with a control unit 14 and a storage unit 15 as a storage unit, and an electrode unit for exchanging data with the outside. The control unit 14 is configured mainly with a microcomputer or the like, and outputs information stored in the storage unit 15 to the vehicle-mounted device 1 in response to a request or data to be written required from the vehicle-mounted device 1. The writing process is performed. As the storage unit 15, a non-volatile storage unit represented by a flash memory is provided.

  Next, see also FIG. 2 to FIG. 6 for the operation of the above configuration, in particular, the operation of constantly monitoring the data line in the communication line connecting the IC card 3 and the vehicle-mounted device 1 to detect the abnormality. To explain. In addition, although general control of the exchange between the vehicle-mounted device 1, the roadside device 2, the IC card 3, and the user (user) is not described here, Patent Document 1 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2004 filed by the present applicant. The control described in 380673 (unpublished) or the like may be used as appropriate.

  First, a communication line connecting the IC card 3 and the vehicle-mounted device 1, that is, eight connection terminals connecting the IC card 3 and the vehicle-mounted device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The terminal having the terminal number C1 is a line for supplying a circuit voltage with the terminal name VCC, and the input / output of the IC card 3 and the input / output of the vehicle-mounted device 1 are as shown in FIG. The terminal with the terminal number C2 is a line that has a terminal name RST and transmits a reset signal, and the input / output of the IC card 3 and the input / output of the vehicle-mounted device 1 are as shown in FIG.

  The terminal of terminal number C3 is a line whose terminal name is CLK and transmits a clock signal, and the input / output of the IC card 3 and the input / output of the vehicle-mounted device 1 are as shown in FIG. The terminal with the terminal number C4 is a spare line with the terminal name RFU. The terminal with the terminal number C5 has a terminal name GND and is a zero voltage line, that is, a ground line. The input / output of the IC card 3 and the input / output of the vehicle-mounted device 1 are as shown in FIG. The terminal with the terminal number C6 is an unused line whose terminal name is VPP.

  The terminal of the terminal number C7 is a data input / output line with a terminal name of I / O, and the input / output of the IC card 3 and the input / output of the vehicle-mounted device 1 are both input / output as shown in FIG. is there. In the case of the present embodiment, the voltage level of the data line of the terminal number C7 is constantly monitored by the vehicle-mounted device 1 to detect an abnormality of the IC card 3. The terminal with the terminal number C8 is a spare line with the terminal name RFU.

  Now, when the user inserts and attaches the IC card 3 into the IC card slot of the vehicle-mounted device 1, the above-mentioned eight connection terminals (communication lines connecting the IC card 3 and the vehicle-mounted device 1) are connected, and a predetermined activity Processing and mutual authentication processing are executed. Thereby, the onboard equipment 1 will be in the state which can be wirelessly communicated with the roadside machine 2 of the toll booth of an ETC system. After that, when the vehicle passes through the toll gate on the toll road, wireless communication is performed between the roadside device 2 and the vehicle-mounted device 1, and usage fee billing processing and the like are appropriately executed. Has been.

  In such a state (that is, the IC card 3 inserted state), the vehicle-mounted device 1 constantly monitors the voltage level of the connection terminal C7 (data line) and detects an abnormality (see the flowchart of FIG. 6). ) Is executed. In this case, first, in step S10, it is determined whether or not the voltage level of the terminal (data line) having the terminal number C7 is abnormal. If no abnormality is detected, “NO” is determined in step S10. The process of step S10 is repeated. On the other hand, when an abnormality is detected, the process proceeds to “YES” in step S10 and then proceeds to step S20.

  Here, the abnormality detection process executed in step S10 will be specifically described. Usually, communication (command and data exchange) as shown in FIG. 3 is executed between the vehicle-mounted device 1 and the IC card 3 via a line (data line) having a terminal number C7. For example, when “command + data” is transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 1 to the IC card 3 via the data line, a “response” is transmitted from the IC card 3 to the vehicle-mounted device 1 via the data line. For example, when “command” is transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 1 to the IC card 3 via the data line, “response + data” is transmitted from the IC card 3 to the vehicle-mounted device 1 via the data line.

  The voltage level of the data line, that is, the terminal of the terminal number C7 is high when there is no access, and when an abnormality such as contact disconnection occurs, the voltage level becomes low as shown in FIG. descend. For this reason, even when no access is made to the IC card 3 by the vehicle-mounted device 1, the voltage level of the terminal (data line) of the terminal number C 7 is constantly monitored to reduce the voltage level (ie, When the detection of (abnormal data reception) is detected, the voltage level of the terminal (data line) of terminal number C7 is determined (detected) to be abnormal.

  In this case, when detecting the decrease in the voltage level, it is preferable to detect the falling edge of the voltage level to the low level. It may be detected as abnormal data.

  Further, when the voltage level of the terminal (reset signal line) having the terminal number C2 is lowered to a low level as shown in FIG. 5A due to contact failure or the like, the IC card 3 is reset from the vehicle-mounted device 1. It is erroneously determined that the signal has been received, and a “reset response” as shown in FIG. 5B is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 1 through the data line.

  Therefore, in such a case, the vehicle-mounted device 1 does not access anything to the IC card 3, that is, does not transmit a reset command to the IC card 3, but the data line (terminal number) A “reset response” (ATR data) is received from the IC card 3 via the terminal C7). For this reason, the vehicle-mounted device 1 is configured to determine (detect) that the voltage level of the terminal (data line) of the terminal number C7 is abnormal even when an unexpected “reset response” as described above is received. ing.

  Next, in step S20, a card state confirmation process, which is a process for confirming whether the above-described abnormality detection is a false detection, is executed. In this case, for example, after accessing the IC card 3 from the vehicle-mounted device 1, an abnormality has occurred in the contact with the IC card 3 only when there is no normal response (contact failure etc.), or It is configured to determine that an abnormality has occurred on the IC card 3 side (“YES” in step S30).

  On the other hand, after the above card status check process is executed, if no abnormality in the contact with the IC card 3 or abnormality on the IC card 3 side occurs, the process proceeds to “NO” in step S30, and returns to step S10. Continue monitoring the line (terminal with terminal number C7).

  When it is determined in step S30 that an abnormality or the like has occurred, the process proceeds to “YES” and a recovery process is executed (step S40). In this restoration process, the IC card 3 is restarted (specifically, the IC card 3 deactivation process, the IC card 3 activation process, and the mutual authentication process with the IC card 3). The IC card 3 is configured to return to a communicable state. In this case, since the information from the IC card 3 has already been read, the process of rereading the information from the IC card 3 is not necessary.

  In addition, during the restart process, it is preferable to notify the user by displaying a message for warning that the IC card 3 should not be pulled out or by outputting it by voice. Furthermore, in the abnormality detection of step S20, when the data (that is, response) flowing on the data line is interpreted, for example, when a reset response as shown in FIG. The IC card 3 may be recovered by performing only the IC card 3 activation process and the mutual authentication process with the IC card 3 without executing the IC card 3 deactivation process.

  Now, after executing the restart process, that is, the recovery process (step S40), the process proceeds to step S50, and it is determined whether or not the communicable state with the IC card 3 has been normally recovered (returned). Here, if it is recovered normally, the process proceeds to “YES” in step S50, returns to step S10, and continues to monitor the data line (terminal of terminal number C7).

  On the other hand, if not recovered normally, the process proceeds to “NO” in step S50, and a warning process for the user is executed (step S60). In this case, it is configured to notify the user by displaying a warning message indicating that the communication state with the IC card 3 is abnormal, outputting it by voice, or sounding a buzzer as a warning sound. ing. Upon receiving this notification, the user performs confirmation of the IC card 3, re-insertion operation of the IC card 3, and the like. As a result, the IC card 3 is restored to a communicable state.

  In this case, as a method for notifying (notifying) a warning to the user, any method may be used as long as it can be a user interface such as an LED, an LCD, a buzzer, a sound output unit, and a vibrator. In addition, when the vehicle-mounted device 1 itself has a configuration that does not have a notification function for the user, the notification is made through an external device (such as a car navigation device) connected to the vehicle-mounted device 1 via a LAN or serially connected. You may comprise so that it may do.

  And when comprised in this way, it is preferable to perform pop-up display on the display apparatus (map display screen) of a car navigation apparatus, for example, or to carry out audio guidance. In addition, it is also preferable to configure so that the volume can be changed by setting or to eliminate notification. In addition, the content of the message to be notified to the user may be only to notify that an abnormality has occurred in the IC card 3, or the user pulls out the IC card 3 to check the IC card 3, The message may be re-inserted. When the IC card 3 is reinserted, the activation process for the IC card 3 is executed from the beginning.

  According to the present embodiment having such a configuration, the data line (terminal having the terminal number C7) in the communication line connecting the IC card 3 and the vehicle-mounted device 1 is constantly monitored to detect an abnormality. With this configuration, it is possible to quickly detect contact failure of the IC card 3 or the like, occurrence of abnormality on the IC card 3 side, and the like.

  Moreover, in the said Example, when the abnormality of the data line in the communication line which connects between IC card 3 and the onboard equipment 1 was detected, since it comprised so that a user might be notified of the abnormality, a user Can surely recognize the abnormality of the IC card 3 and can quickly take measures against the abnormality of the IC card 3.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, when an abnormality is detected in the data line in the communication line connecting the IC card 3 and the vehicle-mounted device 1, a recovery process is executed to automatically eliminate the abnormality. Thus, the abnormality of the IC card 3 (particularly, a minor abnormality that can be automatically recovered) can be automatically resolved.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, when an abnormality of the data line in the communication line connecting the IC card 3 and the vehicle-mounted device 1 is detected, it is confirmed whether or not the abnormality detection is a false detection. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection of abnormality of the IC card 3 almost certainly.

  In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the vehicle-mounted device 1 for ETC. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to other vehicle communication devices mounted on the vehicle. Further, the vehicle-mounted device 1 may be provided with a display device (liquid crystal display or the like) that can display a warning message, or a voice output device that can output a warning message.

Electrical block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention Diagram showing a list of terminal numbers, names, functions, etc. The figure explaining communication between onboard equipment and IC card Time chart explaining data line abnormality detection (Part 1) Time chart explaining data line abnormality detection (Part 2) flowchart

Explanation of symbols

In the drawings, 1 is an ETC vehicle-mounted device (vehicle communication device), 2 is a roadside device, 3 is an IC card, 4 is a control circuit (abnormality detection means, abnormality notification means, recovery means, erroneous detection confirmation means), and 5 is wireless. , 7 is an external device connection unit, 9 is a display unit, 11 is an IC card control unit, and 12 is an IC card connector.

Claims (8)

A vehicle communication system that is configured so that an IC card can be mounted, reads user information recorded on the mounted IC card, and performs wireless communication with a roadside device to charge a usage fee. In the device
An abnormality detecting means for constantly monitoring a voltage level of a data line in a communication line connecting between the IC card and the vehicle communication device and detecting an abnormality when the IC card is not accessed. A vehicle communication device comprising the vehicle.   The vehicle communication device according to claim 1, further comprising an abnormality notifying unit that notifies the abnormality when the abnormality is detected by the abnormality detecting unit.   The vehicle communication device according to claim 1, further comprising a recovery unit that executes a recovery process for automatically eliminating the abnormality when the abnormality detection unit detects the abnormality of the data line. .   4. An error detection confirmation means for confirming whether or not the abnormality detection is a false detection when the abnormality detection means detects an abnormality of the data line. The vehicle communication device described in 1. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality detection unit is configured to determine that the data line is abnormal when detecting that the voltage level of the data line has decreased. Communication device. The abnormality detection means is configured to determine that the data line is abnormal when a reset response is received from the IC card when the IC card is not accessed. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1. 6. The abnormality detecting unit is configured to detect a falling edge of the voltage level to a low level when detecting that the voltage level of the data line has decreased. Vehicle communication device. When the abnormality detection unit detects an abnormality in the data line, the abnormality detection unit performs a restart process of the IC card, and notifies that the IC card is not pulled out during the restart process. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle communication device is configured as described above.

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