JP4626643B2 - Information distribution system, information management server, and information distribution apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information distribution device mounted on an information collecting vehicle that collects information, information collected by the information collecting vehicle, that is, an information using terminal that uses the collected information, and an information using terminal that makes an inquiry to receive the collected information The present invention relates to a target information management server and an information distribution system having some or all of them.

  Conventionally, research and development of technology that collects information in a vehicle and distributes the collected information to a terminal in a vehicle on which the information user rides or a terminal on the Internet on the request of the information user Has been.

  For example, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, the vehicle collects information such as the speed information and position information of the host vehicle and provides the information to the traffic information providing station. The traffic information providing station determines the traffic congestion status from these information, The information on the determined traffic situation is distributed to the requested vehicle.

  Further, in the technology described in Patent Document 2, an information center on the Internet receives a request for information such as road images, sounds, and traffic jam information from a terminal such as an information user's personal computer, and based on the received request. The above information is requested and acquired from an appropriate vehicle, and distributed to the information user's terminal.

  However, in these technologies, it is necessary to upload all necessary information to a central server such as a traffic information providing station or an information center, and the load on the server becomes very large in an actual usage environment. Moreover, since all information passes through one server, the bandwidth utilization efficiency is poor.

On the other hand, in the technique described in Patent Document 3, the central information management center manages the access numbers of vehicles having regional information. Then, when the vehicle on which the information user gets on requests the regional information from the information management center, the information management center searches for the access number of the vehicle having the regional information and notifies the vehicle. As a result, the vehicle acquires the area information directly from the vehicle corresponding to the access number. With such a technique, not all information passes through the central server, so the load on the server is reduced.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-86184 JP 2001-357490 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-194989

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 3, whether the information collected by the vehicle corresponding to the access number is really necessary information for the information user is actually determined by the information user. It can be understood only after information is acquired and viewed. Therefore, there is a risk of increasing traffic and load in that information that is not necessarily used uses the bandwidth. That is, there is a problem that the communication band is not efficiently used.

  Moreover, in this patent document 3, there is no description about the radio | wireless communication state of the vehicle which collects information. Since the wireless communication state of these vehicles is not always constant, for example, one of two vehicles having the same information may be in a good wireless communication state and the other may be in a poor wireless communication state. obtain. In this case, if one of the access numbers is notified to the vehicle of the information utilizing vehicle regardless of the wireless communication state of each vehicle, long-time information transmission is performed on the poor communication channel without using the good communication channel. It will be. That is, the communication band is not efficiently used.

  In view of the above points, the present invention can determine usefulness of a system that distributes information collected by a vehicle to an information use terminal used by an information user via a network before acquiring the information. Alternatively, information is distributed based on the state of wireless communication of the vehicle. As a result, it is an object to efficiently use a communication band in a system that distributes information collected by a vehicle to an information use terminal used by an information user via a network.

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is directed to an apparatus for collecting information, an information collection vehicle having a radio and an information distribution apparatus connectable to a network, an information management server connectable to the network, a plurality of collection information storage server that can connect to a network, a information user terminal which can be connected to the network, the information distribution device, the plurality of collecting information store gathering information device collects collecting the information An inquiry is made to which of the servers to send to the information management server, the information management server stores a list of addresses of the plurality of collection information storage servers, and loads the plurality of collection information storage servers. Periodically monitoring and receiving the inquiry from the information collecting vehicle, and based on this reception, the most negative in the list The collected information storage server address is transmitted to the information collecting vehicle as being the address of the transmission destination collection information storage server, and the information distribution device sends the address of the transmission destination collection information storage server from the information management server. Means for receiving, collection information upload means for transmitting the collected information to the destination collection information storage server via the network using the radio, and a device for collecting the information collected the collected information an additional information upload unit for the transmission of additional information including location information of the information collection vehicle and the address of the transmission SakiOsamu current information storage server to the information management server via the network using the radio, the a, wherein each of the plurality of collection information storage server, the acquisition information of said collecting information upload unit sends And collecting information storing means for storing the collected information when receiving via the network, when receiving a request for said acquisition information from the information use terminal via the network, based on the received request Collecting information transmitting means for transmitting the accumulated collected information to the information using terminal via the network, and the information management server includes the additional information and the transmission destination transmitted by the additional information uploading means. the address of the collection information storage server receives the additional information storage means for storing received via the network, a query of collecting information for a specific location from the information use terminal via the network, of the specific position, if applicable to the location information in the added-information which the additional information storage means is stored, the destination collection information Address distribution means for transmitting the address of the storage server to the information utilization terminal via the network, and the information utilization terminal inquires of the information management server about the collection information of the specific location via the network. and information inquiry means for transmitting said transmission having an address receiving means for receiving an address of the transmission SakiOsamu current information storage server by the information management server sends, based on the inquiry, the address which the address receiving means receives and wherein the collecting information requesting means for requesting the information through the network to SakiOsamu current information storage server, that said collecting information transmitting means based on the request and a collecting information receiving means for receiving the transmitted information Information distribution system.

  As a result, the collection information uploading means of the information distribution device mounted on the information collection vehicle transmits the collection information collected by the information collection device to the collection information storage server via the network using a wireless device, and is added. An information management server through a network using a wireless device for adding information related to the situation when the information collecting device collects information and the address of the collected information storage server to which the collected information is transmitted. Send to.

  The collected information storage unit of the collected information storage server receives and stores the collected information transmitted by the collected information upload unit via the network, and the additional information storage unit of the information management server transmits the additional information upload unit. Additional information and the address of the corresponding information collecting vehicle are received and stored via the network.

  Further, when the information inquiry means of the information use terminal transmits an information inquiry to the information management server via the network, the address distribution means of the information management server receives this inquiry, and the received information inquiry and the additional information storage means accumulate. Based on the additional information, the address of the collected information storage server stored by the additional information storage means is transmitted to the information using terminal via the network.

  Then, the address receiving means of the information utilization terminal receives the address of the collected information storage server transmitted by the information management server based on the inquiry, and the collection information requesting means connects the network to the collected information storage server having the address received by the address receiving means. Request information via The collection information transmission means of the collection information storage server receives this request, and on the basis of this request, the collection information stored in the collection information storage means is distributed to the information use terminal via the network, and the collection information reception means Since this collection information is received, the information use terminal can request and receive the collection information from the collection information storage server.

  In this way, in the system that distributes the information collected by the vehicle to the information use terminal used by the information user via the network, the information collection vehicle saves the collected information to the collected information storage server on the network. The information storage terminal can acquire the collected information regardless of the wireless connection state of the vehicle. Therefore, a communication band can be efficiently used in a system that distributes information collected by a vehicle to an information use terminal used by an information user via a network.

  Note that a part of information and the address of the corresponding collection information storage server are “a part of information and a destination from which the information collecting vehicle that transmitted the part of the information transmits information including the part of the information” The collected information storage server address ".

The invention according to claim 2 is an information management server that can be connected to a network, and stores means for storing a list of addresses of a plurality of collection information storage servers that receive and store the collection information, and the plurality of collections A means for periodically monitoring the load of the information storage server and an inquiry as to which of the plurality of collection information storage servers the collection information is transmitted from the collected information, that is, the information collection vehicle that transmits the collection information, are received. An upload destination specifying means for transmitting the address of the collection information storage server with the least load in the list based on the reception to the information collection vehicle as being the address of the transmission destination collection information storage server, and the transmission destination collected information storage said information collecting vehicle which has received the address of the server may transmit the collected information to the destination collection information storage server, and When the additional information and the address of the destination collection information storage server including a position information of the information collection vehicle of when the gathered information was collected and sent over the network to the transmission and the transmitted the additional information Receive additional information storage means for receiving and storing the address of the pre- collected information storage server, and receive the collected information inquiry at the specific location from the information use terminal that inquires the collected information at the specific location via the network. and, if applicable to the location information in the additional information that the specific position is the additional information storing means for storing, the collected information to the collected information storage server where the information use terminal accumulates the collected information relating to the inquiry requesting to receive said address of said transmission SakiOsamu current information storage server to which the additional information storage means for storing networks It is information management server, characterized in that and an address distributing means for transmitting to said information user terminal via a click.

  As a result, the additional information storage means transmits the collected information, that is, the collected information, to the collection information storage server that receives and stores the collected information, and further adds the additional information and the collected information regarding the situation when the collected information is collected. The additional information transmitted by the information collection vehicle that transmits the address of the collection information storage server that is the transmission destination via the network and the address of the collection information storage server are received and accumulated, and the address distribution means is connected via the network. Collection in which an information inquiry is received from an information use terminal that makes an information inquiry, and the information use terminal accumulates the collected information related to the inquiry based on the received information inquiry and the additional information stored in the additional information storage unit The collection information storage accumulated by the additional information storage means so as to request and receive this collection information from the information storage server. And transmits the address of the server through the network to the information use terminal, information use terminal can request and receive the collected information to the collected information storage server.

  In this way, in the system that distributes the information collected by the vehicle to the information use terminal used by the information user via the network, the information collection vehicle saves the collected information to the collected information storage server on the network. The information storage terminal can acquire the collected information regardless of the wireless connection state of the vehicle. Therefore, a communication band can be efficiently used in a system that distributes information collected by a vehicle to an information use terminal used by an information user via a network.

  As a result, the information management server can introduce the address of the collected information storage server, so that the load of the collected information storage server can be distributed in consideration of the capacity and load of the entire system.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information distribution device mounted on an information collecting vehicle having an information collecting device and a radio that can be connected to a network, wherein the information collecting device receives information. Information management for receiving and accumulating additional information including location information of the information collecting vehicle when collected and the address of the collected information storage server that receives and accumulates the collected information, that is, collected information, from the information collecting vehicle The information utilization terminal makes an inquiry about the collection information at a specific location via the network, so that the collection information at the specific location is received from the information collection vehicle among a plurality of collection information storage servers. The address of the collected information storage server accumulated in this way is received from the information management server via the network, and the information use terminal further receives this address. In the system for receiving the collected information from the collected information storage server by requesting the collected information at the specific position from the collected information storage server having the A self-connection state prediction unit that predicts a wireless connection state to the network; and the plurality of collected information storage servers before the wireless connection state predicted by the self-connection state prediction unit deteriorates from a first connection state level. A collection information upload means for transmitting the collected information collected by the information collection device via the network using the wireless device, and a device for collecting the information in the information management server. Additional information including the location information of the information collecting vehicle when the collected information is collected, and the collected information storage destination of the collected information A server address, an information distribution apparatus and a collection information part uploading means for transmitting via the network using the radio.
Thus, since the wireless connection state can be predicted in advance based on the operation schedule, the immediacy of information transmission is improved by transmitting the collected information to the collected information storage server before the wireless connection state deteriorates.
Also, an invention according to claim 5, the apparatus for collecting information, an information distribution device mounted on the information collection vehicle having a radio that can be connected to the network, device information collecting the information Information received from the information collection vehicle and stored as additional information including the location information of the information collection vehicle when the information is collected, and the address of the collected information storage server that receives and accumulates the collected information, that is, the collected information The information utilization terminal makes an inquiry about the collection information at a specific location via the network to the management server, so that the collection information at the specific location among the plurality of collection information storage servers is sent from the information collection vehicle. The address of the collected information storage server received and accumulated is received from the information management server via the network, and the information using terminal further receives this address. By requesting collect information of the specific position in the collection information storage server having a system for receiving the collected information from the collected information storage server, periodically a wireless connection state to the network of the radio said when the wireless connection state is better than a predetermined connection state levels, one of the plurality of collection information storage server with a self-connection status checking means for checking, the self-connection status checking means confirms the, collecting information device collects collecting the information, gathering and collecting information upload unit to be transmitted through the network using the radio, to the information management server, a device for collecting the information wherein the gathering information and additional information including location information of the information collection vehicle when, the address of the collection information storage server of the transmission destination of the collected information, before And collecting information Some upload means for transmitting via the network using the radio, an information distribution device provided with.

  As a result, the collection information uploading means of the information distribution device mounted on the information collection vehicle transmits the collection information collected by the information collection device to the collection information storage server via the network using a wireless device, and is added. An information management server through a network using a wireless device for adding information related to the situation when the information collecting device collects information and the address of the collected information storage server to which the collected information is transmitted. Send to.

  The collected information storage server receives and accumulates the collected information transmitted by the collected information upload means via the network, and the information management server transmits the additional information transmitted by the additional information upload means and the corresponding information collecting vehicle. The address is received via the network and stored.

  Also, when the information utilization terminal sends an information inquiry to the information management server via the network, the information management server receives this inquiry and stores it based on the received information inquiry and the accumulated additional information. The address of the collected information storage server is transmitted to the information using terminal via the network.

  The information utilization terminal receives the address of the collected information storage server transmitted by the information management server based on the inquiry, and requests information from the collected information storage server having the received address via the network. The collection information storage server receives this request, distributes the collected collection information to the information use terminal via the network, and the information amount terminal receives this collection information. You can request and receive collected information.

  In this way, in the system that distributes the information collected by the vehicle to the information use terminal used by the information user via the network, the information collection vehicle saves the collected information to the collected information storage server on the network. The information storage terminal can acquire the collected information regardless of the wireless connection state of the vehicle. Therefore, a communication band can be efficiently used in a system that distributes information collected by a vehicle to an information use terminal used by an information user via a network.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the information delivery apparatus according to any one of the third to fifth aspects, the collection information uploading means is a predetermined identification among the plurality of collection information storage servers. One of the features is that the collected information collected by the information collecting device is transmitted via the network using the wireless device.

Further, the invention according to claim 7 is the information distribution apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5 , wherein the collection information uploading means includes a plurality of information based on a network segment to which the radio is connected. One of the collected information storage servers is selected, and the collected information collected by the information collecting device is transmitted to the selected collected information storage server via the network using the wireless device. It is characterized by.

The invention according to claim 8 is the information distribution device according to any one of claims 3 to 5 , wherein the collection information uploading means collects the collected information collected by the device collecting the information into a plurality of pieces of information. The information management server according to claim 2 is inquired to which of the collected information storage servers is transmitted via the network using the wireless device, and the collection transmitted by the information management server in response to the inquiry. An address of the information storage server is received, and the collected information is transmitted to the collection information storage server having the received address via the network using the wireless device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the information distribution apparatus according to the third aspect , the information distribution apparatus further comprises self-connection state check means for periodically confirming a wireless connection state of the wireless device to the network, and the collected information The upload unit uses the radio to collect the collected information collected by the device that collects the information when the wireless connection state confirmed by the self-connection state check unit is better than a second connection state level. It transmits to the said collection information storage server via a network, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The part of the collected information is thumbnail information such as a representative image of the collected moving image, an image whose resolution is thinned out to some extent, a reduced image, and a part of the collected audio. Further, the part of the collected information and the address of the corresponding information collecting vehicle are “a part of the collected information and the address of the information collecting vehicle that has transmitted a part of the collected information to the information management server”. . The address of the information collecting vehicle is an address for identifying the information collecting vehicle in the network. A user is an information user. In addition, the characteristics of the information use terminal refer to the use environment of the information use terminal such as whether the information use terminal is mounted on a vehicle, a portable terminal, or a terminal installed in an office or home. It is a concept that includes it.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of an information distribution system according to the first embodiment (reference embodiment). The information distribution system includes an information management server 1, information collection vehicles 2 and 3, general vehicles 4 and 5, a network terminal 6, a mobile terminal 7, wireless base stations 8 to 11, and a wide area network 12. The wide area network 12 is, for example, a network based on IPv6.

  In the present embodiment, information collection vehicles 2 and 3 collect and accumulate information such as images and sounds around the host vehicle while traveling, and use information such as general vehicles 4 and 5, network terminal 6, and mobile terminal 7. The terminal requests and receives information collected and stored in the information collecting vehicle via the wide area network 12, that is, collected information. At this time, the information management server 1 is queried for information in order to identify which information collection vehicle stores the collection information required by the information use terminal. Further, when the information collecting vehicle collects information, a part of the collected information, additional information regarding the situation when the collected information is collected, its own address, etc. are transmitted to the information management server 1. (Upload).

  When this information management server 1 receives an inquiry about information from the information use terminal, it refers to the uploaded additional information, and part of the collected information that matches the inquiry and the address of the information collecting vehicle that collected the collected information Is transmitted to the information use terminal of the inquiry source. The information using terminal that has received the part of the collected information and the identification information displays the part of the collected information to the user and prompts the user to request whether or not to request the collected information. When receiving the instruction to make a request, the information utilization terminal requests and receives the collected information from the information collecting vehicle having the received address via the wide area network 12.

  Briefly, details of the information distribution system that performs the above functions will be described below.

  The radio base stations 8 to 11 are connected to a wide area network 12 which is a data communication network. By connecting wireless terminals such as information collecting vehicles 2 and 3, general vehicles 4 and 5, and mobile terminal 7 to these wireless base stations 8 to 11 by wireless communication, these wireless terminals can be connected to the wide area network 12. it can.

  The information management server 1 is connected to a wide area network 12 and has a CPU, RAM, ROM, and hard disk (not shown). In the information management server 1, the CPU operates by reading and executing a program in the ROM. During the operation, information is written to and read from the RAM and the hard disk as necessary. And data communication with the information collecting vehicles 2 and 3, the general vehicles 4 and 5, the network terminal 6, the mobile terminal 7, and the like. Hereinafter, the operation of the CPU will be described as the operation of the information management server 1 unless otherwise specified.

  Information use terminals such as the general vehicles 4 and 5, the network terminal 6, and the mobile terminal 7 have a computer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like (not shown). These information utilization terminals have an output device such as a monitor and a speaker and an input device such as a keyboard, and the computer is connected to the input device and the output device. The input device and the output device may be integrated like a touch panel. Each CPU operates in accordance with a program recorded in the ROM, and reads and writes information to the RAM, receives user input from the input device, and displays information on the output device as necessary. The computers of the general vehicles 4 and 5 and the mobile terminal 7 can be connected to the wide area network 12 via a wireless device. The network terminal 6 is connected to the wide area network 12 by wire. A specific example of the network terminal 6 is a personal computer stationary in an office or home.

  The information collecting vehicles 2 and 3 collect images and sounds inside and outside the vehicle by a configuration and operation described later while traveling on a road, and accumulate and transmit the collected images and sounds. Such a vehicle is also called a probe car. For this purpose, FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a device mounted on the information collecting vehicles 2 and 3. As shown in this figure, the information collection vehicles 2 and 3 have an information distribution device 50, a wireless antenna 61, a wireless device 62, a camera / microphone 63, and a GPS sensor 64.

  The wireless device 62 uses a wireless antenna 61 and wirelessly transmits and receives communication data via the wireless base stations 8 to 11. The camera / microphone 63 is a device that collects information, which is attached to the information collecting vehicles 2 and 3 and converts surrounding images and sounds into electric signals and outputs them. The GPS sensor 64 is a positioning device that detects and outputs position information of a mounted vehicle using a GPS satellite positioning system.

  The information distribution device 50 includes an information storage unit 51, a sensor control unit 52, a communication control unit 53, an information processing unit 54, a schedule DB (database) 55, and an information management DB 56.

  The information storage unit 51 has a buffer memory that temporarily stores image and audio signals input from the camera / microphone 63, and periodically (for example, once per second) The contents of this buffer memory are updated with an audio signal.

  The sensor control unit 52 acquires the position information of the host vehicle by controlling the GPS sensor 64 periodically (for example, once per second), and stores the acquired position information in a buffer memory (not shown). The contents of the buffer memory are updated each time the GPS sensor 64 receives new position information.

  The communication control unit 53 controls the wireless device 62 that can be connected to the network, thereby acquiring data of the wireless signal received by the wireless device 62 and outputting the data to the information processing unit 54. In addition, when receiving data for wireless transmission from the information processing unit 54, the communication control unit 53 outputs this data to the wireless device 62, and controls the wireless device 62 to wirelessly transmit the output data.

  The schedule DB 55 has an EPROM in which the operation schedule of the host vehicle is stored in advance. The operation schedule is data in which information indicating at what point the vehicle is operated and at which timing information is collected is described. The information collecting vehicle 2 and the information collecting vehicle 3 move and collect information according to this operation schedule. In addition, this operation schedule can be rewritten.

  The information management DB 56 has a RAM, and information related to collection of images and sounds by the camera / microphone 63 input from the information processing unit 54 to the RAM, and the situation when the camera / microphone 63 collects the images and sounds. Additional information and the address of the host vehicle are accumulated. The additional information includes time when the camera / microphone 63 collects an image and sound, and position information acquired by the sensor control unit 52 at this time. Further, the RAM of the information management DB 56 stores information on the wireless link state (wireless connection state) with the wireless base station and the load state of the information processing unit 54 when a part of the collected image is transmitted to the information management server 1. Are also accumulating. The address is for uniquely identifying the vehicle in the wide area network 12 by distinguishing it from other vehicles. In the present embodiment, this address is the IP address of the information distribution device 50. This IP address is based on IPv6, and each information collection vehicle has a unique IP address. This IP address information is stored in the EPROM of the schedule DB 55.

  The information processing unit 54 has a CPU (not shown) that operates by reading and executing a program from the ROM. The CPU also exchanges control signals and data with the information storage unit 51, sensor control unit 52, communication control unit 53, information processing unit 54, schedule DB 55 and information management DB 56 in accordance with program instructions. The CPU operation program will be described later. In the following description, the CPU operation is regarded as the operation of the information processing unit 54 unless otherwise specified.

  The general vehicles 4 and 5 and the mobile terminal 7 perform data communication with the information collection vehicles 2 and 3 and the information management server 1 through the wide area network 12 by connecting to the wireless base stations 8 to 11 by wireless communication. It has a communication device that can. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of this communication apparatus. Components similar to those shown in FIG. 2 are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted. This communication apparatus has a wireless antenna 61, a wireless device 62, a GPS sensor 64, and a control computer 70.

  The control computer 70 includes a sensor control unit 52, a communication control unit 53, an information processing unit 71, and a user interface unit 72.

  The user interface unit 72 is integrally provided with an image display device, a sound output device, and an input device. The user interface unit 72 displays information to the user under the control of the information processing unit 71, and outputs the information to the information processing unit 71 when receiving an input from the user.

  The information processing unit 71 has a CPU (not shown) that operates by reading a program from a ROM (not shown) in the control computer 70 and executing it. Further, the CPU exchanges control signals and data with the sensor control unit 52, the communication control unit 53, and the user interface unit 72 in accordance with instructions of the program. The CPU operation program will be described later. In the following description, the operation of the CPU is regarded as the operation of the information processing unit 71 unless otherwise specified.

  The operation of the information distribution system configured as described above will be described below.

  In FIG. 4, the process of the information processing part 54 of the information collection vehicles 2 and 3 is shown with a flowchart. The information processing unit 54 always performs the processing shown in this flowchart when the information distribution apparatus 50 operates and is linked to the radio base stations 8 to 11. Hereinafter, the operation of the information collecting vehicles 2 and 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In step 210, the information processing unit 54 detects and acquires the position information of the host vehicle, the current time, and the wireless link state of the information distribution device 50. The position information of the host vehicle is acquired by controlling the sensor control unit 52 and reading the position information from the buffer memory. The current time is acquired from a clock (not shown) in the information processing unit 54. The wireless link state is detected by controlling the communication control unit 53 so that the information processing unit 54 transmits a ping message to the information management server 1 via the wide area network 12 and examining the returned message.

  Next, in step 220, the operation schedule is read from the schedule DB 55, and an information collection reservation command is monitored from the outside of the information management server 1 or the like. In the case of an information collection reservation command, the contents of the operation schedule are rewritten to collect information at the location according to this command. In addition, the reception of collection information transmission requests from the information use terminal is monitored. This collection information transmission request signal is a signal including position information and time at the time of collection as additional information relating to the situation when the requested collection information is collected.

  Next, in step 230, it is determined whether the current timing is for information collection. This determination is made based on the operation schedule. That is, it is determined whether or not the place described in the operation schedule so as to collect information matches the place indicated by the current position information.

  If it is determined that it is the timing of information collection, the process proceeds to step 240 to acquire an image or sound from the buffer memory of the information storage unit 51.

  Next, in step 250, the acquired location information, current time, radio link state, and collection information are stored in the information management DB 56.

  In step 260, a part of the stored collection information is extracted. The extracted collected information includes, for example, an image with a reduced image resolution, an image with a small size, an audio with a reduced audio sampling rate, an image and audio with a high compression rate, and the like.

  In step 270, a part of the extracted collection information, position information, time, and radio link state are output to the communication control unit 53 so as to be transmitted to the information management server 1, that is, uploaded. When the upload is completed, the process returns to step 210.

  If it is determined in step 230 that it is not the timing of information collection, the process proceeds to step 280, and based on the monitoring in step 220, it is determined whether there is a collection information transmission request from the information use terminal. If there is no transmission request, the process returns to step 210.

  If there is a transmission request, the process proceeds to step 290, and the requested collection information is searched from the information management DB 56 based on the position information and time described in the transmission request.

  In step 295, the collected information corresponding to the search is transmitted to the requesting information using terminal. Then, the process returns to step 210.

  Through the processing loop as described above, the information distribution device 50 receives the position information, time, and radio link state when the camera / microphone 63 collects information, the IP address of the information distribution device 50, and the extracted collection information. A part of the information is transmitted to the information management server via the network using the wireless device 62. The information distribution device 50 accumulates the collected collection information. The information distribution apparatus 50 receives a collection information transmission request from the information utilization terminal via the wide area network 12, and uses the collection information stored in the information management DB 56 based on this request via the network. Deliver to the terminal.

  Next, the configuration of a program group for operating the information management server 1 is shown in FIG. This program group includes a user data distribution unit 81, an information collection reservation command unit 82, a collection information data reception unit 83, a vehicle state monitoring unit 84, an information processing program 85, a database processing unit 86, a collection information management DB 87, and map information. It has DB88. These programs are executed in the information management server 1 as independent processes, and exchange data and control messages with each other through inter-process communication.

  The user data distribution unit 81 receives an information request from an information use terminal such as the general vehicle 4, the general vehicle 5, the network terminal 6, and the mobile terminal 7, passes the information request to the information processing program 85, and is received from the information processing program 85. Data is transmitted to these information utilization terminals. An example of the user data distribution unit 81 is a Web server program. The information collection reservation command unit 82 is a program for receiving an information collection reservation command addressed to the information collection vehicle from the information processing program 85 and transmitting this command to a specific or non-specific information collection vehicle.

  The information collection reservation command is a command for instructing to collect information such as photographing when a specific location is reached. Further, it may be a command for instructing to collect information at a specific time. As a method for transmitting information to a specific single information collecting vehicle, for example, there is unicast. As a method of transmitting the same information to a plurality of specific information collecting vehicles all at once, for example, there is multicast. An example of a method for transmitting the same information to unspecified information collecting vehicles all at once is broadcast.

  The collected information data receiving unit 83 is a program that receives part of the collected information, additional information, and the like from the information collecting vehicle and passes them to the information processing program 85.

  The vehicle state monitoring unit 84 is a program that periodically (for example, 1 minute) checks the wireless link state of the information collecting vehicle and passes the result to the information processing program 85. The information collection vehicle to be examined for the wireless link state may be all information collection vehicles connected to the wide area network 12, or may be an information collection vehicle that has transmitted a part of the collection information. In the latter case, the vehicle state monitoring unit 84 receives from the information processing program 85 information on the IP address of the target information collecting vehicle whose wireless link state is to be checked, and checks the connection state for this address. As a specific method for checking the connection state, for example, there is transmission of a ping message to the address.

  The database processing unit 86 is a program that mediates exchange of information between the information processing program 85 and the collected information management DB 87 and the map information DB 88. That is, the database processing unit 86 receives write data to the collected information management DB 87 or the map information DB 88 from the information processing program 85, and transmits a control message to the collected information management DB 87 or the map information DB 88 so as to organize and store the data. To do. When the database processing unit 86 receives an information request control message from the information processing program 85, the database processing unit 86 controls the collected information management DB 87 or the map information DB 88 on the basis of the information request control message, and extracts necessary information and passes it to the information processing program 85.

  The collection information management DB 87 is a program for organizing and storing a part of the collection information received from the information collection vehicle, additional information, and the like in cooperation with the database processing unit 86 described above. The map information DB 88 is a program for organizing and storing map information in cooperation with the database processing unit 86 described above. The map information has position information on roads and intersections on the map.

  The information processing program 85 always executes the loop-like processes shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 in parallel, and the data distribution unit 81 for users, the information collection reservation command unit 82, the collected information data as necessary for the processing. Data and control messages are exchanged with the receiving unit 83, the vehicle state monitoring unit 84, and the database processing unit 86.

  First, the process shown in FIG. 6 will be described. This process is a main part of the information processing program 85, and processes data received from the information collecting vehicle and information inquiry (information retrieval request) received from the information use terminal.

  In step 310, the information processing program 85 receives upload data (transmission data) such as a part of information originating from the information collecting vehicle from the collected information data receiving unit 83, or originates from the information using terminal from the data distribution unit 81 for users. Detects whether an information inquiry has been received.

  In step 315, it is determined whether upload data has been received from the collected information data receiving unit 83.

  If it is determined that it has been received, the process proceeds to step 320 where data such as a part of the received information, additional information (position information, time, wireless link status, etc.), vehicle IP address, etc. are organized and stored in the collected information management DB 87. The data and the control message are transferred to the database processing unit 86 so that the data is processed. As a result, the database processing unit 86 and the collected information management DB 87 work together, and the collected information management DB 87 organizes and stores the data as shown in the table of FIG. Each entry in this table corresponds to one collection information, and each entry stores location information, time, address, a part of the collection information, and the radio link status (good state, good, bad). It consists of a field. After this process, the process returns to step 310.

  If it is determined in step 315 that upload data has not been received from the collected information data receiving unit 83, the process proceeds to step 325, and it is determined whether an information inquiry has been received from the data distribution unit 81 for users. If not, the process returns to step 310.

  If an information inquiry has been received, the process proceeds to step 330, and an information request control message is passed to the database processing unit 86 using the position information included in the information inquiry as a key. Upon receiving this message, the database processing unit 86 finds an entry that matches the corresponding position information from the table stored in the collection information management DB 87 and passes the data of this entry to the database processing unit 86.

  In step 335, the database processing unit 86 that has received the entry data passes a part of the collection information in the entry data, the time, the vehicle address, and the wireless link state to the user data distribution unit 81. As a result, the data distribution unit 81 for the user transmits the received data as Web data to the information use terminal that is the inquiry source. After the processing by the database processing unit 86, the processing returns to step 310.

  Next, the process illustrated in FIG. 7 will be described. This process detects a bias in time and / or position information in a plurality of entries of the above-mentioned table accumulated in the collected information management DB 87 and instructs the information collecting vehicle to collect information in order to mitigate it. Is for sending.

  In step 410, the information processing program 85 transmits a request message to the information processing program 85 to acquire map information from the map information DB 88, and the position information at the time of information collection from each entry stored in the collection information management DB 87. Get time information.

  Next, in step 420, the acquired position information and time information are compared with the map information, and information collection biases on roads and intersections on the map are evaluated. The bias in information collection refers to, for example, a state in which a lot of information is collected at point A on the map but not collected at point B.

  Next, in step 430, the evaluation in step 420 is compared with a criterion for determining whether or not a predetermined bias exists, and it is determined whether or not there is a bias. If it is determined that there is no bias, the process returns to step 410.

  If it is determined that there is a bias, the process proceeds to step 440, in which an information collection vehicle connected to a radio base station in the vicinity of a place where information is collected is reserved to collect information at that place. The control message is passed to the information collection reservation command unit 82 so as to be transmitted. As a transmission method, the command is broadcast toward the network belonging to the wireless station. Then, the process returns to step 410.

  By such processing, the information management server 1 determines whether or not there is a bias in the time and / or location of the collected information, and information collection reservations at times and / or locations where the collected information is small so as to reduce this bias. Send instructions. In addition, the information collection vehicle that has received this broadcast makes an information collection reservation in the processing of the information processing unit 54 shown in FIG. Thereby, it is possible to alleviate the time and place bias when the collected information is collected, which is caused by the information collecting vehicle arbitrarily collecting the information.

  Next, the operation for receiving the distribution of the collected information collected by the information collecting vehicle by the computers of the information using terminals such as the general vehicles 4 and 5, the network terminal 6, and the mobile terminal 7 will be described. FIG. 8 shows a CPU program for this operation in the information use terminal as a flowchart. This program is executed by a user's operation to repeat loop processing.

  In step 510, the CPU prompts the user for an information request by displaying an input window on the screen, and waits for an instruction from the user, that is, an input. Here, description will be given taking as an example position information of a place where image or audio information is desired as input of a command.

  If there is an input from the user, the process proceeds to step 520, and an information inquiry is transmitted to the information management server 1 via the wide area network 12. This inquiry includes the position information described above.

  Next, in step 530, a part of the collected information as a response to the inquiry from the information management server 1, additional information (position information, time, wireless link status, etc.) regarding the situation when the collected information is collected, and the IP address of the information collecting vehicle Wait for an incoming call, and if there is an incoming call, receive it.

  In step 540, this information is output to the display device, and the user is further instructed whether to request collection information from the information collection vehicle having the received IP address. And the instruction | indication from this user is received from an input device.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of an information display screen on the touch panel in the processing of step 540. On the display screen, the current position and the position where information such as images and sounds are collected are highlighted on the map based on the map information (on the terminal side). Further, the elapsed time after the collection information is collected is indicated by changing the highlighted pattern to distinguish. Further, the radio link state of the vehicle that has collected the position information is indicated by blinking the highlight display when the radio link state is bad. When the display portion of the position where the information is collected is clicked, a part of the collected information corresponding to the position such as a reduced image is displayed. When the reduced image is displayed and then clicked again, a Yes / No selection window is displayed with a message such as “Do you want to see details?” Prompting the user to click Yes or No. Further, this display is periodically updated at regular intervals.

  When receiving the input from the user, the CPU determines whether the user requests collection information based on the reception. In the example shown in FIG. 9, it is determined whether Yes is clicked or No is clicked. If it is determined that no information is requested, the process returns to step 510.

  If it is determined that information is requested, the process proceeds to step 560, and a request for the collected information is transmitted via the wide area network 12 to the IP address of the information collecting vehicle that collected the position information.

  Then, in step 570, in response to this request, the information collection vehicle waits for incoming collection information to be returned. If there is an incoming call, the incoming information is received and displayed on the display device. Then, the process returns to step 510.

  Through the processing of the computer CPU of the information use terminal, the information use terminal inquires the information management server 1 for information required by the user, and a part of the collected information received by this inquiry and the information collection vehicle collect the collected information. Based on additional information relating to the situation when the information is collected, the user is prompted to collect information request to the information collecting vehicle having the received IP address. And based on the instruction | indication of a collection information request | requirement, collection information is requested | required and received from an information collection vehicle via a network.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of information exchange between the information collection vehicle 2, the information management server 1, and the general vehicle 5 in the information distribution system having the above-described configuration and operation.

  The information collecting vehicle 2 collects information in accordance with a preset schedule (step 610) and stores the collected information together with additional information in the information management DB 56 as shown in the processing of steps 240 to 270 in FIG. 4 (step 610). 620), uploading a part of the collected information and data such as additional information to the information management server 1 in the form of the wide area network 12 (step 630).

  The information management server 1 receives the uploaded data and stores it in the collected information management DB 87 as shown in step 320 of FIG. 6 (step 640). Here, as shown in step 520 of FIG. 8, when the general vehicle 5 searches for (inquires) information relating to the desired position with respect to the information management server 1 (step 650), the information management server 1 returns to the step of FIG. As shown in 330 and 335, a part of the collection information corresponding to the position and additional information and the like are returned to the general vehicle 5 based on this search (step 660).

  As shown in steps 510 to 540 of FIG. 8, the general vehicle 5 receives this reply, causes the user to browse part of the collected information, and determines whether the collected information is necessary (step 670). . When the user determines that it is necessary and designates that, the general vehicle 5 requests the information collection vehicle 2 for the collected information as shown in step 560 (step 680).

  The information collecting vehicle 2 that has received this request reads the collected information that matches this request from the information management DB 56 and transmits it to the general vehicle 5 as shown in steps 290 to 295 in FIG. 4 (step 690).

  In such a system, in a system that distributes information collected by a vehicle to an information use terminal used by an information user via a network, the user determines its usefulness based on a part of the received collected information. In the system that distributes information collected by the vehicle to the information utilization terminal used by the information user via the network, the communication band can be efficiently used. it can.

  In addition, the information use terminal may be configured to transmit an information inquiry to the information management server in order to periodically receive information about an information obtainable area from the information management server. As a result, the information use terminal can always grasp the latest status of the collected information, and therefore can accurately determine the information request.

  Further, it is not always a user to determine the usefulness of the collected information received by the information use terminal, and the information use terminal has a program for judging the usefulness, and the usefulness is judged by this program. It may be like this.

(Second Embodiment)
Hereinafter, an information distribution system according to the second embodiment (reference embodiment) will be described. The overall configuration of this information distribution system is the same as that of the information distribution system according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. The information distribution system in this embodiment has two parts different from the first embodiment.

  One is that the information collecting vehicle does not transmit a part of the collected information to the information management server 1. Therefore, the information using terminal does not receive a part of collected information such as a reduced image from the information management server 1 and display it to the user. Therefore, the information use terminal inquires of the information management server 1 for information, receives the address of the information collecting vehicle from the information management server 1, and does not prompt the user to request an information request. Information is requested from the collection vehicle.

  Another different part is that the information management server periodically confirms the state of the radio link to the network of the radios possessed by the information collecting vehicle.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information distribution system in the present embodiment will be described focusing on the description of these different parts.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing unit 54 of the information collecting vehicles 2 and 3 in the present embodiment. In FIG. 11, the same steps as those shown in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same step numbers. The operation of the information processing unit 54 of the information collecting vehicles 2 and 3 is the same as that described in the first embodiment. However, in the flowchart of the information processing unit 54 in FIG. 4, the process of extracting part of the collected information in step 260 is not performed, and in step 270, part of the collected information is not uploaded to the information management server 1.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing program 85 of the information management server 1 in this embodiment. In FIG. 12, the same steps as those shown in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same step numbers. The monitoring process in step 310 and the determination process in step 315 are the same as those in FIG. In step 320, the information uploaded from the information collecting vehicles 2 and 3 is received and stored in the collected information management DB 87 as in step 320 of FIG. However, in step 320 of the present embodiment, a part of the collected information is not received, and information at the same position uploaded from the IP address (vehicle address) of different information collecting vehicles is saved as one group. It has become.

  In step 323 executed after it is determined in step 315 that there is no upload, the information processing program 85 confirms the radio link state of the information collecting vehicle and reflects the result in the collected information management DB 87. The check of the radio link state of the information collecting vehicle is transmitted to the vehicle state monitoring unit 84 by sending information on the IP address of the information collecting vehicle to be checked, and is thereby periodically checked by the vehicle state monitoring unit 84. This is done by acquiring radio link status information. Here, the wireless link state indicates whether or not the data transmission through the wireless link is good. In addition, as the wireless link state, a determination criterion such as good or bad is used in the present embodiment. Since the flowchart of FIG. 12 is in a loop, the process of step 323 is repeatedly and periodically executed. However, this does not necessarily need to be performed periodically. For example, when an information inquiry is received from an information use terminal, the state of the wireless link to the network of the wireless device possessed by the information collecting vehicle is confirmed. Also good.

  The organized information held in the collected information management DB 87 updated in these steps 320 and 323 is as shown in the table of FIG. This table is different from the table in FIG. 6 in that a part of the collection information does not exist in each entry, and information on the radio link state exists. Furthermore, in the table in FIG. 12, the same position information from which information is collected is collected as the same group in the table in FIG. 12. It should be noted that those that are grouped together as the same group do not necessarily have exactly the same position information. For example, entries having position information in an area indicated by one map code (registered trademark) are grouped as the same group. It may be like this. A map code, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-305108, is a mesh in which unit cells of the same size are arranged vertically and horizontally so as to cover a target map in order to easily identify points. A unique code that is defined and assigned to each unit cell.

  This unique code has a nationwide map as a primary mesh composed of cells of latitude × longitude = 900 seconds × 900 seconds, and an area within each cell of the primary mesh is represented by cells of latitude × longitude = 30 seconds × 30 seconds. And the area within each mesh of the secondary mesh is a unit of a tertiary mesh consisting of a mesh of latitude × longitude = 1 second × 1 second, and a code number for identifying the mesh of the primary mesh is A block code is used as a division code, a code number that identifies the mesh of the secondary mesh is a block code, and a code that identifies the grid of the tertiary mesh is a unit code. The original code.

  Further, in step 330, based on the information inquiry in step 325, that is, the search request, the position information included in this inquiry is used as a key, and from the group of the collection information management DB 87, the most radio link state is obtained. The vehicle address is acquired by performing a search so that the vehicle address included in the good entry is extracted. In step 335, the vehicle address is transmitted to the inquiry source information use terminal.

  Note that the information management server 1 also executes the processing shown in FIG. 7 in parallel.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation program of the CPU for the information utilization terminal in the present embodiment to acquire the collected information. In FIG. 13, the same steps as those shown in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same step numbers. 8 is different from FIG. 8 in that a part of the collected information is not received as a response to the inquiry from the information management server 1 in step 530. Further, as a result of not receiving a part of the collected information, as shown in steps 540 and 550 of FIG. 8, whether or not the part of the collected information is displayed to the user of the information use terminal and whether or not the information is desired. Does not prompt the decision.

  Therefore, in step 560 and step 570, based on receiving the address of the information collecting vehicle in step 530, an information acquisition request is made to the information collecting vehicle, and the information acquired thereby is displayed.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of information exchange between the information collection vehicle 2, the information management server 1, and the general vehicle 5 in the information distribution system as described above, and the same steps as those in FIG. 10 in the first embodiment are the same. The step number is attached. This example differs from FIG. 10 in that in FIG. 14, the vehicle address and additional information (time, location information, wireless link status, etc.) are uploaded in step 630, and some of the collected information is not uploaded. Accordingly, in step 640, the information management server 1 does not store a part of the collected information in the collected information management DB 87. In step 645, the wireless link state of the information collecting vehicle 2 is periodically checked. In step 660, based on the search request in step 650, the vehicle address of the group in the collection information management DB 87 corresponding to the search position that has a good link state is transmitted. At this time, a part of the collection information Never send. In addition, prompting the user of the information use terminal to determine whether or not the information is desired in step 670 in FIG. 10 is not performed in the present embodiment, and the collected information is immediately collected in step 680 with respect to the vehicle address received in step 660. Request.

  Further, in step 330, the information may be transmitted to the vehicle address information use terminal stored in the collected information management DB 87 based on the characteristics of the information use terminal as the inquiry source. For example, when the inquiry source is a general vehicle, priority is given to the freshness of information, and the vehicle address of the entry with the latest information collection time is transmitted, and the inquiry source is a network terminal installed in the office or home. In some cases, priority may be given to the speed of data transfer, and the vehicle address to be transmitted may be determined based on the radio link status.

  With such an operation, in the system that distributes the collected information collected by the information collecting vehicle to the information using terminal used by the information user via the network, it is based on the wireless link state of the vehicle collecting the information, that is, the wireless communication state. Therefore, in a system that distributes information collected by a vehicle to an information use terminal used by an information user via a network, the communication band can be used efficiently.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 15 shows an overall configuration diagram of an information distribution system according to the third embodiment (embodiment of the present invention). The configuration of the present embodiment is different from that of the second embodiment in that the information distribution system includes collected information storage servers 13 and 14. Hereinafter, the operation of the information distribution system according to the present embodiment will be described focusing on differences from the second embodiment.

  The collection information storage servers 13 and 14 are connected to the wide area network 12, and the information management server 1, the information collection vehicles 2 and 3, the general vehicles 4 and 5, the network terminal 6, the mobile terminal 7 and the like are connected via the wide area network 12. And data communication. The collected information storage servers 13 and 14 receive and store the collected information transmitted by the information collecting vehicle via the wide area network 12. In addition, the collection information storage servers 13 and 14 receive a collection information request from the information use terminal via the wide area network 12, and transmit the accumulated collection information to the request source information use terminal based on the received request.

  The information processing unit 54 of the information collecting vehicle performs the same operation as that shown in FIG. 11, but further performs a loop-like process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16 as a process in parallel therewith. This process will be described below.

  In step 710, the information processing unit 54 reads the operation schedule from the schedule DB 55 and monitors the wireless link state using the wireless device 62. Since the flowchart of FIG. 16 is in a loop shape, the process of step 710 is repeatedly executed periodically. Then, in step 720, it is determined whether or not the wireless state deteriorates within 5 minutes. This determination is based on the situation where the radio condition is continuously deteriorating, and if it deteriorates at this rate, it can be predicted that connection will not be possible within 5 minutes, or where the radio link condition deteriorates within 5 minutes from the operation schedule. When it can be predicted that the vehicle will enter (underground, tunnel, outside the area, etc.), it will be judged that it will deteriorate within 5 minutes. That is, it is determined that the sensitivity of the wireless communication is worse than a certain level (first connection state level) that is set in advance and recorded in the ROM or the like of the information processing unit 54.

  If it is determined not to deteriorate, the process returns to step 710. If it is determined that the information deteriorates, the process proceeds to Step 730, where the information management server 1 is inquired about the collection information storage server, and the IP address of the collection information storage server is received from the information management server 1.

  In step 740, the collected information and additional information (time and position information) are uploaded to the collected information storage server having the received IP address. In step 750, the collection information storage location is switched to the collection information storage server, and the additional information such as the IP address of the collection information storage server and location information is sent to the information management server 1 via the wide area network 12. To notify. Then, the process returns to Step 710.

  As described above, the information processing unit 54 uploads the collected information to the information management server 1 before the wireless state deteriorates. For example, a level at which the wireless link state exists (second connection state level) When it is better, that is, when the sensitivity of wireless communication is higher than a preset level, the collected information may be transmitted.

  In addition to the configuration of the second embodiment, the information management server 1 stores the collected information storage server address list in the collected information management DB 87. This list of collected information storage server addresses includes the IP address of each collected information storage server, load information to be described later, and the like. The information management server 1 performs the same processing as that shown in FIG. In addition, the information management server 1 also performs the following processing. The information management server 1 regularly monitors the load on the collected information storage server. The load of the collected information storage server is the amount of processing requests applied to the collected information storage server. The larger this load, the slower the collected information storage server executes other processes. Become. This load includes a communication processing load and a calculation processing load. The information management server 1 writes the load information obtained by this monitoring into the list of addresses of the collected information storage server. Further, when the information management server 1 receives an address search request for the collection information storage server from the information collection vehicle, the information management server 1 notifies the inquiry collection information collection vehicle of the address of the collection information storage server with the least load. Or you may come to notify the address of the collection information storage server nearest to this information collection vehicle on a network basis. In addition, the information management server 1 receives the IP address and additional information of the collection information storage server by switching the collection information storage location to the collection information storage server from the information processing unit 54 of the information collection vehicle. The address portion of the entry in the database is the IP address of the collection information storage server, and the wireless link state portion is the load of the collection information storage server. Further, when the information management server 1 receives an inquiry about information from the information use terminal, it notifies the IP address of the corresponding information collecting vehicle or the IP address of the corresponding collected information storage server.

  The information use terminal performs processing similar to that shown in FIG. However, the IP address acquired from the information management server 1 in step 530 is not necessarily that of the information collection vehicle, and may be the IP address of the collection information storage server.

  A case where the information collection vehicle uploads the collected information to the storage server in such an information distribution system will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18.

  In step 805, the information management server 1 monitors the load of the collected information storage server. This is a process performed periodically.

  In step 810, the information processing unit 54 of the information collecting vehicle collects and accumulates information such as images and sounds according to a preset schedule. In step 815, an inquiry (search request) of the IP address of the collected information storage server is made to the information management server 1. In step 820, the information management server 1 that has received this inquiry searches for the collection information storage server that is closest to the network or that has the lowest load from the list of addresses of the collection information storage server described above. The collected information is transmitted to the inquiring information collecting vehicle as the IP address of the collected information storage server to which the collected information is to be transmitted.

  In step 825, the information processing unit 54 that has received this IP address uploads (transmits) the collected information to the collected information storage server having this IP address. The collection information storage server receives the uploaded collection information, and stores and stores it.

  In step 835, the information collection vehicle uploads additional information such as the IP address, location information, and time of the collection information storage server to which the collection information is uploaded to the information management server 1. The information management server 1 that has received it rewrites the entry in the collected information management DB 87, such as addition or update, in step 840 based on the received information.

  Thereafter, in step 850, the information management server 1 is inquired of the collection information of the position where the information using terminal is necessary. The information management server 1 that has received this inquiry searches the collected information management DB 87 in step 855 and transmits the IP address of the corresponding collected information storage server to the information use terminal that is the inquiry source. In step 860, the information using terminal transmits the IP address of the corresponding collected information storage server. The information use terminal that has received this IP address transmits an information acquisition request to the collection information storage server having this IP address in step 860, and the collection information storage server that has received this request requests the information use terminal in step 865. Information is distributed.

  In such a system, in the system for distributing information collected by the vehicle to the information use terminal used by the information user via the network, the information collection vehicle saves the collected information on the collected information storage server on the network. Regardless of the radio link state of the information collecting vehicle, the information using terminal can acquire the collected information. Therefore, a communication band can be efficiently used in a system that distributes information collected by a vehicle to an information use terminal used by an information user via a network.

  In the present embodiment, the information collection vehicle uses a wireless device to transmit information about which collected information collected by the information collection device is transmitted to the one of the collected information storage servers via a network. The management server 1 is inquired, the address of the collected information storage server transmitted by the information management server in response to the inquiry is received, and the collected information is transmitted to the collected information storage server having the received address. It doesn't have to be this way. For example, the collected information uploading means may transmit the collected information collected by the information collecting apparatus to a predetermined specific one of the plurality of collected information storage servers. The collection information upload means selects one of a plurality of collection information storage servers based on the network segment to which the radio is connected, and the information collection device collects information on the selected collection information storage server. The collected information may be transmitted.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the process of step 270 in FIG. 4 uses a part of the collected information collected by the information collecting device and the address of the information collecting vehicle as the network. The collection information partial uploading means to be transmitted to the information management server via is configured.

  Further, each of the processing in step 250 in FIG. 4 and the processing in step 250 in FIG. 11 constitutes collection information storage means for storing the collected information collected by the information collecting device.

  Also, each of the processing in steps 280 to 295 in FIG. 4 and the processing in steps 280 to 295 in FIG. 11 receives a request for collected information from the information use terminal via the network, and based on this request, the collected information Collected information distribution means for distributing the collected information stored in the storage means to the information utilization terminal via the network is configured.

  Further, the process of step 320 in FIG. 6 is to collect part of the collected information that is received by the part of the collected information transmitted by the part of the collected information uploading means and the address of the corresponding information collecting vehicle and accumulates. Configure the means.

  6 receives an information inquiry from the information use terminal via the network, and based on the received information inquiry, the collected information partial storage means stores one piece of collected information. A collection information partial distribution means for distributing the section and the address of the corresponding information collection vehicle to the information use terminal via the network.

  Further, each of the processing in step 520 in FIG. 8, the processing in step 520 in FIG. 13, and the processing in step 850 in FIG. 18 constitutes an information inquiry means for transmitting an information inquiry to the information management server via the network.

  Further, the processing in step 530 of FIG. 8 constitutes a collection information partial receiving means for receiving a part of the collection information distributed by the information management server based on the inquiry and the address of the corresponding information collection vehicle.

  Further, the processing of steps 540 to 560 in FIG. 8 is performed on the information distribution device of the information collection vehicle having the address received via the network based on a part of the collection information received by the collection information partial reception means. The collection information requesting means for requesting is configured.

  Further, each of the processing in step 570 in FIG. 8 and the processing in step 570 in FIG. 13 constitutes collection information receiving means for receiving the collection information distributed by the collection information distribution means based on the request.

  Further, the processing of step 540 in FIG. 8 is based on a part of the collected information received by the collected information partial receiving means, and the collected information to the information collecting vehicle having the address received by the collected information partial receiving means for the user. User interface means for prompting a request instruction and receiving a collection information request instruction from a user is configured.

  Further, the processing in steps 550 and 560 in FIG. 8 is a commissioned collection information request for requesting the collection information to the information distribution device of the information collection vehicle via the network based on the collection information request instruction received by the user interface. Configure the means.

  Further, the processing of step 270 in FIG. 11 is performed by using the information management server to transmit additional information regarding the situation when the information collecting device collects the information and the address of the information collecting vehicle via the network using a wireless device. The additional information uploading means to be transmitted is configured.

  12 constitutes additional information storage means for receiving and storing the additional information transmitted by the additional information uploading means and the address of the corresponding information collecting vehicle via the network.

  Further, each of the processing in step 323 in FIG. 12 and the processing in step 805 in FIG. 17 constitutes a connection state check means for confirming a wireless connection state to the network of the wireless device included in the information collecting vehicle.

  12 receives an information inquiry from the information use terminal via the network, and the received information inquiry, additional information stored in the additional information storage means, and connection state check means. The address distribution means for transmitting the address of the information collecting vehicle stored in the additional information storage means to the information use terminal via the network based on the wireless connection state confirmed by the above.

  13 constitutes an address receiving means for receiving the address of the information collecting vehicle transmitted by the information management server based on the inquiry.

  Further, the processing of step 560 in FIG. 13 constitutes a collection information requesting unit that requests information from the information distribution device of the information collecting vehicle having the address received by the address receiving unit via the network.

  7 constitutes a collection reservation transmitting means for transmitting an information collection reservation command to the information collection vehicle.

  Further, the processing of step 220 in FIG. 11 constitutes a collection reservation receiving means for receiving an information collection reservation command from the information management server.

  Further, the processing in step 740 in FIG. 16 and the processing in step 825 in FIG. 17 collect the collected information collected by the information collecting device and transmit the collected information to the collected information storage server via the network using a wireless device. Configure.

  In addition, the process of step 815 in FIG. 17 transmits the additional information relating to the situation when the information collecting apparatus collects the information and the address of the collected information storage server to the information management server via the network using a wireless device. Additional information uploading means is configured.

  Further, the processing in step 830 in FIG. 17 constitutes collection information storage means for receiving and storing the collection information transmitted by the collection information upload means via the network.

  In addition, the process of receiving transmission in step 860 of FIG. 18 and the process of step 865 receive a collection information request from the information use terminal via the network, and accumulate the collected information based on the received request. Is collected information transmitting means for transmitting to the information utilizing terminal via the network.

  Further, the processing in step 840 of FIG. 17 constitutes additional information storage means for receiving and storing additional information transmitted by the additional information upload means and the address of the corresponding collected information storage server via the network.

  Further, the process of receiving an inquiry in step 850 in FIG. 18 and the process of step 855 receive an information inquiry from the information use terminal via the network, and the received information inquiry and additional information storage means store it. Based on the additional information stored, the address distribution unit is configured to transmit the address of the collected information storage server stored in the additional information storage unit to the information using terminal via the network.

  Further, the process of receiving the transmission in step 855 of FIG. 18 constitutes an address receiving means for receiving the address of the collected information storage server transmitted by the information management server based on the inquiry.

  Further, the processing of step 860 in FIG. 18 constitutes a collection information requesting unit that requests information via the network to the collection information storage server having the address received by the address receiving unit.

  Moreover, the process of step 720 in FIG. 16 constitutes a self-connection state prediction unit that predicts a wireless connection state to the network of the wireless device based on the operation schedule of the vehicle on which the vehicle is mounted.

  Further, the processing in step 710 in FIG. 16 constitutes a self-connection state check means for periodically confirming a wireless connection state of the wireless device to the network.

  In addition, the process of step 820 in FIG. 17 receives an inquiry from the information collecting vehicle to which of a plurality of collected information storage servers to send the collected information, and based on this reception, selects one address in the list. The upload destination designation means is configured to transmit the collected information to the information collecting vehicle as the address of the collected information storage server to which the collected information should be transmitted.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an information distribution system according to a first embodiment (reference embodiment). It is a block diagram of the apparatus which the information collection vehicles 2 and 3 mount. It is a block diagram of the apparatus with which the general vehicles 4 and 5 and the mobile terminal 7 are mounted. It is a flowchart of the process of the information processing part 54 of the information collection vehicles 2 and 3. FIG. This is a configuration of a program group for operating the information management server 1. 10 is a flowchart of processing of an information processing program 85. 10 is a flowchart of processing of an information processing program 85. It is a program for CPU for receiving collected information in an information using terminal. It is an example of the display screen of the information on a touchscreen in the process of step 540. It is a figure which shows one example of transmission / reception of the information in the information delivery system of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the action | operation of the information processing part 54 of the information collection vehicles 2 and 3 in 2nd Embodiment (reference embodiment). It is a flowchart which shows the action | operation of the information processing program 85 of the information management server 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation program of CPU for an information utilization terminal to acquire collection information. It is a figure which shows one example of transmission / reception of the information in the information delivery system of 2nd Embodiment. It is a whole block diagram of the information delivery system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment (embodiment of this invention). It is a flowchart of a process of an information collection vehicle. In 3rd Embodiment, it is a figure which shows the example in case an information collection vehicle uploads collection information to a preservation | save server. In 3rd Embodiment, it is a figure which shows the example in case an information collection vehicle uploads collection information to a preservation | save server.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information management server, 2, 3 ... Information collection vehicle, 4, 5 ... General vehicle,
6 ... Network terminal, 7 ... Mobile terminal, 8-11 ... Wireless base station,
12 ... Wide area network, 13, 14 ... Collected information storage server,
50 ... Information distribution device, 51 ... Information storage unit, 52 ... Sensor control unit,
53 ... Communication control unit, 54 ... Information processing unit, 55 ... Schedule DB,
56 ... information management DB, 61 ... wireless antenna, 62 ... wireless device,
63 ... Camera / microphone, 64 ... GPS sensor, 70 ... Control computer,
71 ... Information processing unit, 72 ... User interface unit,
81 ... Data distribution unit for users, 82 ... Information collection reservation command unit,
83 ... Collected information data receiving unit, 84 ... Vehicle state monitoring unit,
85 ... Information processing program, 86 ... Database processing unit,
87 ... Collected information management DB, 88 ... Map information DB.

Claims (8)

An information collecting vehicle having a device for collecting information and a radio and an information distributing device connectable to a network;
An information management server connectable to the network;
A plurality of collection information storage server that can connect to the network,
And a information user terminal that can be connected to the network,
The information distribution device makes an inquiry to the information management server as to which of the collection information storage servers the collection information collected by the device that collects the information is transmitted,
The information management server stores a list of addresses of the plurality of collection information storage servers, periodically monitors a load of the plurality of collection information storage servers, receives the inquiry from the information collection vehicle, and receives the inquiry The address of the collection information storage server with the least load in the list is transmitted to the information collection vehicle as being the address of the destination collection information storage server,
The information distribution device receives the address of the destination collection information storage server from the information management server, and transmits the collection information to the destination collection information storage server via the network using the wireless device. and collecting information upload unit that, the radio device for collecting the the address of the additional information and the transmission SakiOsamu current information storage server including a position information of the information collection vehicle when collecting the collection information the information Additional information uploading means for transmitting to the information management server via the network using,
Wherein each of the plurality of collection information storage server, and collection information storage means for the collecting uploading means for storing the collected information if the collected information transmitted and received through the network, via the network And collecting information transmitting means for transmitting the accumulated collected information to the information utilizing terminal via the network based on the received request when the collected information request is received from the information utilizing terminal. And
The information management server, the address of the additional information the additional information uploaded means has transmitted and the destination collection information storage server, and the additional information storage means for storing received via the network, via the network receiving said information from the user terminal collects information about a specific location query, the specific position, if applicable to the location information in the added-information which the additional information storage means is stored Te, the Address distribution means for transmitting the address of the destination collection information storage server to the information utilization terminal via the network;
Said information user terminal includes information inquiry means for transmitting inquiry information collected the specific location to the information management server via the network, the transmission SakiOsamu collecting said information management server sends, based on the query an address receiving means for receiving the address information storage server, and collection information request means for requesting the information through the network to the transmission SakiOsamu current information storage server whose address the address received by the receiving means, to the request And a collection information receiving means for receiving the information transmitted by the collection information transmission means based on the information distribution system. An information management server that can be connected to a network,
Means for storing a list of addresses of a plurality of collection information storage servers for receiving and storing the collection information;
Means for periodically monitoring the load of the plurality of collected information storage servers;
From the information collecting vehicle that transmits the collected information, that is, the collected information, an inquiry as to which of the plurality of collected information storage servers is to transmit the collected information is received. Upload destination designation means for transmitting the address of a small collection information storage server to the information collection vehicle as being the address of the transmission destination collection information storage server;
The information collection vehicle that has received the address of the transmission destination collection information storage server transmits the collection information to the transmission destination collection information storage server , and further the location information of the information collection vehicle when the collection information is collected when transmitted over the network the additional information and the address of the destination collection information storage server including the additional information storage for storing for receiving the transmitted said additional information and the address of the destination collection information storage server Means,
Receiving an inquiry of collecting information on the specific position from the information use terminal querying collecting information for a particular location through the network, in the additional information that the specific position is the additional information storing means for storing The additional information storage means stores the transmission destination so that the information utilization terminal requests and receives the collected information from the collected information storage server that stores the collected information related to the inquiry. information management server, wherein the address of the collection information storage server that and an address distributing means for transmitting to said information user terminal via the network. An information distribution device mounted on an information collection vehicle having a device for collecting information and a radio that can be connected to a network ,
Additional information including position information of the information collecting vehicle when the information collecting device collects information, and an address of a collected information storage server that receives and accumulates the collected information, that is, collected information, The information utilization terminal makes an inquiry about the collection information at a specific position via the network to the information management server that receives and accumulates from the vehicle , and among the plurality of collection information storage servers , the collected information received via the network address of the collection information storage server that stores received from the information collecting vehicle from the information management server, further information use terminal the collection information storage server having the address by requesting collect information for a particular location, in a system for receiving the collected information from the collected information storage server,
Based on the operation schedule of the information collecting vehicle, self-connection state prediction means for predicting a wireless connection state of the wireless device to the network;
Before the wireless connection state of the self-connection state predicting means predicts is worse than the first connection state level, to one of said plurality of collection information storage server, collection device for collecting the information has been collected Collected information uploading means for transmitting information via the network using the wireless device;
The information management server, the additional information including location information of the information collection vehicle when the device for collecting the information collected the collected information, and the address of the collection information storage server of the transmission destination of the collected information, An information distribution apparatus comprising: collected information partial uploading means for transmitting via the network using the wireless device. A self-connection state check means for periodically confirming a wireless connection state of the wireless device to the network;
The collected information uploading means collects the collected information collected by the information collecting apparatus when the wireless connection state confirmed by the self-connection state checking means is better than a second connection state level. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the information distribution apparatus transmits the collected information to the collected information storage server via the network. An information distribution device mounted on an information collection vehicle having a device for collecting information and a radio that can be connected to a network ,
Additional information including position information of the information collecting vehicle when the information collecting device collects information, and an address of a collected information storage server that receives and accumulates the collected information, that is, collected information, The information utilization terminal makes an inquiry about the collection information at a specific position via the network to the information management server that receives and accumulates from the vehicle , and among the plurality of collection information storage servers , the collected information received via the network address of the collection information storage server that stores received from the information collecting vehicle from the information management server, further information use terminal the collection information storage server having the address by requesting collect information for a particular location, in a system for receiving the collected information from the collected information storage server,
A self-connection state check means for periodically confirming a wireless connection state of the wireless device to the network;
When the said wireless connection state self connection status checking means confirms that better than the predetermined connection state level, to one of said plurality of collection information storage server, collecting information device for collecting the information has been collected Collecting information uploading means for transmitting via the network using the radio,
The information management server, the additional information including location information of the information collection vehicle when the device for collecting the information collected the collected information, and the address of the collection information storage server of the transmission destination of the collected information, An information distribution apparatus comprising: collected information partial uploading means for transmitting via the network using the wireless device. The collected information uploading means sends the collected information collected by the device that collects the information to a predetermined one of the plurality of collected information storage servers via the network using the wireless device. 6. The information delivery apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the information delivery apparatus transmits the information. The collection information uploading unit selects one of the plurality of collection information storage servers based on a network segment to which the wireless device is connected, and collects the information in the selected collection information storage server The information distribution apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the collected information collected by is transmitted via the network using the wireless device. The collection information uploading means determines to which of the plurality of collection information storage servers the collection information collected by the information collection device is to be transmitted via the network using the wireless device. The information management server is inquired, the address of the collected information storage server transmitted by the information management server in response to the inquiry is received, and the collected information is sent to the collected information storage server having the received address. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the information distribution apparatus is used for transmission via the network.

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