JP5267498B2 - Remote vehicle customization system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote vehicle customization system which can change the operation mode setting of an on-vehicle device upon transmission of a setting change command from a management center even if the vehicle is not in use. <P>SOLUTION: A management center 10 sends a setting change command to change the operation mode setting of an on-vehicle device to a mobile phone 20 carried by a vehicle user. The mobile phone 20 can receive and store the setting change command whenever the command is sent from the management center 10 because it is usually in the reception-enabled state all the time. When the user gets in the vehicle and communication is established between the mobile phone 20 and a network terminal device 30, the setting change command stored in the mobile phone 20 is sent to the network terminal device 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2012,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote vehicle customization system that can customize the operation mode of an in-vehicle device by remote operation.

  Various in-vehicle devices are mounted on the vehicle, and some of them can change the operation mode according to the user's preference and usage environment. For example, when the vehicle is equipped with a keyless entry system, the answer back when the door is locked or unlocked by the switch operation of the portable key can be switched between sound and light or only light There is. In addition, there are cases where the number of answerbacks can be changed. In addition, after turning off the ignition switch of the vehicle, it is possible to change the time for turning on the interior light, or to change the detection distance by ultrasonic sonar for detecting obstacles around the vehicle. Some will do.

  In order to change the operation modes of such various in-vehicle devices, it is usually necessary to bring the vehicle to a dealer and have the dealer's technician perform a setting change process. As described above, in many cases, the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device can be changed, but the function is not sufficiently utilized due to the bothersomeness of having to bring the vehicle to the dealer.

  Some operation modes of in-vehicle devices can be set and changed by the user of the vehicle by operating the in-vehicle devices, but generally speaking, the operation is complicated. For this reason, even if the user of the vehicle can change the operation mode of the in-vehicle device, the frequency of use of the function is low.

  Here, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, a system that can receive provision of various services by performing communication with an information center is known. In this system, when a mobile phone is used from a vehicle to request a service for responding to the occurrence of an emergency or a service that provides various information, the information center makes a request corresponding to the phone number of the mobile phone. Set service data. Then, the information center transmits the set requested service data to the communication module associated with the cellular phone number. The communication module is connected to the network device terminal in the vehicle, and the requested service data acquired by the communication module is given to the network device terminal.

JP 2004-140666 A

  Therefore, it is conceivable to change the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device using the system described above. That is, the user of the vehicle informs the operator of the information center of the contents of the setting change of the operation mode of the desired in-vehicle device via the mobile phone, and the operator requests a setting change command according to the request of the vehicle user. Set as data and send to communication module. In this way, the operation mode of the in-vehicle device can be changed as desired by the vehicle user by remote control without bringing the vehicle into the dealer.

  However, regarding the setting change of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device, even if the vehicle user is not necessarily in the vehicle, the information center may be contacted. When the vehicle user contacts the information center, if the vehicle is not in the vehicle and the vehicle's ignition switch is not turned on, the communication module will send the requested service data even if it is sent from the information center. Cannot be received, and the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device cannot be changed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a remote vehicle customization system capable of changing the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device even when the vehicle is not used when the setting change command is transmitted by the management center. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, a remote vehicle customization system for customizing an operation mode of an in-vehicle device according to claim 1 by remote control,
A management center that transmits a setting change command for customizing the operation mode of the in-vehicle device;
A mobile phone that is carried by a user of the vehicle and receives and stores setting change commands transmitted from the management center;
A network terminal device mounted on a vehicle, having a communication function with a mobile phone, and connected to a vehicle-mounted device via a network;
When the user gets into the vehicle and the mobile phone and the network terminal device are ready to communicate, the setting change command stored in the mobile phone is transmitted to the network terminal device, and the network terminal device receives The setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device is changed by transmitting the set change command to the in-vehicle device.

  Thus, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the management center transmits a setting change command for changing the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device to the mobile phone carried by the vehicle user. Since the mobile phone is normally in a state where reception is always possible, in principle, whenever a setting change command is transmitted from the management center, the setting change command can be received and stored. When the user gets into the vehicle and the mobile phone and the network terminal device can communicate with each other, the setting change command stored in the mobile phone is transmitted to the network terminal device. In this way, it is possible to construct a pseudo always-on environment for the transmission / reception of the setting change command. When the user of the vehicle desires to change the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device, when the user wants to change the operation mode, Even if contact is made, the setting can be changed.

  As described in claim 2, when the in-vehicle device changes the setting of its operation mode, the in-vehicle device transmits changed state data indicating the changed setting state to the network terminal, and the network terminal device operates the operation of the in-vehicle device. Setting state data related to the setting state of the mode is saved, and when the changed state data is received from the in-vehicle device, difference data indicating the difference between the setting state data before and after the change is transmitted to the mobile phone and saved. The mobile phone stores the difference data received from the network terminal device, and transmits the difference data to the management center when communicating with the management center. When the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device is saved, and when the difference data is received from the mobile phone, the in-vehicle state of the corresponding vehicle in the saved setting state And updates the setting state of the vessels of the operation mode.

  In order for the management center to accurately change the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device by the setting change command, it may be necessary to recognize the current setting state. For example, this corresponds to a case where an increase / decrease amount from the current setting state is instructed by a setting change command on the basis of the current setting state.

  Therefore, in the invention of claim 2, the management center stores the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device for each vehicle. However, when the management center stores the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device for each vehicle, when the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device is changed in the vehicle, the management center stores the changed contents. It needs to be reflected in the setting state.

  In that respect, the invention according to claim 2 is configured such that when the operation mode setting of the in-vehicle device is changed in the vehicle, the changed content is transmitted to the management center via the mobile phone. The center can always recognize the setting state of the latest operation mode of the in-vehicle device. In addition, when the change content is transmitted to the management center via the mobile phone, the mobile phone transmits difference data indicating the difference between the setting states before and after the change. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the amount of data transmitted from the mobile phone to the management center in order to transmit the change contents.

  Note that, as described above, when the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device is changed, the change content is transmitted to the management center via the mobile phone. Yes. Therefore, as described in claim 3, even if the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device can be changed by a user operation on the in-vehicle device in addition to being changed by the setting change command, the management center All changes in the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device can be grasped.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the remote vehicle customization system by embodiment of this invention. In the remote vehicle customization system shown in FIG. 1, it is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which changes the setting of the operation | movement aspect of vehicle equipment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of a remote vehicle customization system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The remote vehicle customization system according to the present embodiment customizes (changes settings) the operation mode of the in-vehicle device by remote operation.

  The management center 10 mainly creates a setting change command for changing the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device and transmits it to the mobile phone 20 described later. The management center 10 includes a server 12 that performs transmission / reception processing with the mobile phone 20 and creates a setting change command, and a database 11 that stores the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device for each vehicle. It has. The reason why the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device of each vehicle is stored in the database 11 is to recognize the current setting state in order to accurately change the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device by the setting change command. This is because it may be necessary. For example, the setting change command may be used to indicate the amount of increase / decrease from the current setting state with respect to the detection distance of the ultrasonic sonar and the lighting time of the interior lamp after the ignition is turned off, based on the current setting state. Applicable.

  The mobile phone 20 is carried by a user of the vehicle and is normally powered on at all times. The vehicle user can inform the operator of the management center 10 of the desired setting change of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device by voice communication using a mobile phone. Then, the operator of the management center 10 creates a setting change command for changing the operation mode of the in-vehicle device requested by the vehicle user in the server 12. At that time, the database 11 is referred to, and an appropriate setting change command is created based on the setting state of the current operation mode of the in-vehicle device of the corresponding vehicle.

  The setting change command created by the server 12 of the management center 10 is transmitted to the mobile phone 20 by packet communication via the mobile phone network. The mobile phone 20 includes a memory. When a setting change command is received from the management center 10, the received setting change command is stored in the memory.

  The mobile phone 20 further has a short-range wireless communication function such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). This short-range wireless communication function is used to communicate with the navigation system 30 which is a network terminal device mounted on the vehicle when the vehicle user carrying the mobile phone 20 gets on the vehicle. This short-range wireless communication function is automatically executed when the vehicle user gets on the vehicle and turns on the power of the network terminal device. Note that the mobile phone 20 and the navigation system 30 may be communicably connected by wire using a dock connector or the like.

  The navigation system 30 provides various navigation information such as display of the current position to the vehicle occupant. In addition to a display (not shown), the navigation system 30 stores a main microcomputer 31 that performs various arithmetic processes, road map data, and stores setting state data related to the setting state of the operation mode of each in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle. And a vehicle-mounted LAN control unit 33 that controls communication with the ECUs 40 to 42 and 50 to 52 of each vehicle-mounted device. That is, each in-vehicle device including the navigation system 30 is connected to be communicable with each other via an in-vehicle LAN.

  The navigation system 30 is connected to a communication module 34 that performs data communication with the management center 10. When the vehicle is used, the navigation system 30 communicates with the management center 10 through the communication module 34 to provide various services. Can receive.

  In addition, although this embodiment demonstrates the example which uses the navigation system 30 as a network terminal device, as long as it is connected to vehicle-mounted LAN and the communication function with a mobile telephone is provided, another vehicle-mounted apparatus is used as a network terminal device. It can also be used.

  In the remote vehicle customization system configured as described above, the flow of processing for changing the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  As shown in step S100 of FIG. 2, when the vehicle user informs the operator of the management center 10 of the setting change of the operation mode of the desired in-vehicle device by voice communication (call) using a mobile phone, In the server 12 of the center 10, a setting change command for changing the operation mode of the vehicle-mounted device requested by the vehicle user is created and transmitted to the mobile phone 20 carried by the vehicle user.

  When the setting change command is created by the server 12, the corresponding setting state is referred to among the setting states of the operation modes of the in-vehicle devices for each vehicle stored in the database 11. However, it may not be necessary to refer to the database 11 depending on the operation mode of the in-vehicle device to be changed. For example, when the vehicle is equipped with a keyless entry system, this corresponds to a case in which the answer back is directly instructed by sound and light or only by light using a setting change command. Furthermore, when changing the number of answerbacks, the case where the number of answerbacks is directly indicated by a setting change command is also applicable.

  When receiving the setting change command from the management center, the mobile phone 20 determines whether or not communication with the network terminal device 30 of the vehicle is possible in step S110. If communication is possible, the received setting change command is transmitted to the network terminal device 30. If the vehicle user is not in the vehicle and cannot communicate, the received setting change command is stored in the memory in step S120. When the mobile phone 20 becomes communicable with the network terminal device 30, the setting change command stored in the memory is transmitted to the network terminal device 30.

  When receiving the setting change command from the mobile phone, the network terminal device 30 transmits the setting change command via the in-vehicle LAN to the ECUs 40 to 42 and 50 to 52 of the in-vehicle devices to which the setting change command is to be transmitted. Hereinafter, the description will be made assuming that the network terminal device 30 has transmitted a setting change command to the ECU 40 of the in-vehicle device.

  When receiving the setting change command from the network terminal device 30, the ECU 40 of the in-vehicle device changes the setting state of its own operation mode in accordance with the setting change command in step S130. When this change is completed, the ECU 40 of the in-vehicle device returns a setting change completion notification to the network terminal device 30.

  This setting change completion notification includes the setting change contents made by the ECU 40 of the in-vehicle device, and the network terminal device 30 sets the operation state of each in-vehicle device stored in itself in step S140. Difference information indicating a difference (change contents) between the setting state data before and after the change is calculated. In step S150, the setting state data is updated according to the setting change content included in the received setting change completion notification. Furthermore, the network terminal device 30 transmits the difference information calculated in step S140 to the mobile phone 20.

  When the cellular phone 20 receives the difference information, the cellular phone 20 transmits the difference information to the management center 10. At this time, if the mobile phone 20 cannot communicate with the management center 10 for some reason, the mobile phone 20 stores the difference information in its own memory, and when communication with the management center 10 becomes possible, The accumulated difference information is transmitted.

  When the management center 10 receives the difference information related to the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device from the mobile phone, in step S160, the management center 10 selects from the setting state of the in-vehicle device for each vehicle stored in the database 11. The setting state of the in-vehicle device of the vehicle to be extracted is extracted and updated.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the management center 10 is configured to transmit a setting change command for changing the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device to the mobile phone 20 carried by the vehicle user. Has been. Since the mobile phone 20 is normally always turned on and always in a receivable state, the setting change command is received and stored whenever the setting change command is transmitted from the management center 10. Can do. Then, when the user gets into the vehicle and the mobile phone 20 and the network terminal device 30 can communicate with each other, the setting change command stored in the mobile phone 20 is transmitted to the network terminal device 30. For this reason, it is possible to construct a pseudo always-on connection environment for the transmission / reception of the setting change command. When the user of the vehicle desires to change the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device, when the user contacts the management center 10 Even if the operation is performed, the setting can be changed.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, when the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device is changed in the vehicle, the changed content is transmitted to the management center 10 via the mobile phone 20. Therefore, the management center 10 can update the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device stored for each vehicle, and can always recognize the latest setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device. Therefore, the management center 10 can create and transmit an appropriate setting change command based on the latest setting state.

  In addition, when the change content is transmitted to the management center 10 via the mobile phone 20, the mobile phone 20 transmits difference information indicating a difference between the setting states before and after the change. Therefore, the amount of data transmitted from the mobile phone 20 to the management center 10 in order to transmit the change contents can be reduced.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device is changed by remote operation using the setting change command created in the management center 10 has been described. However, in addition to the setting change by such remote operation, the setting state of the operation mode may be changed by a user operation on the in-vehicle device.

  Even in such a case, if the ECU 40 of the in-vehicle device is configured to transmit a setting change completion notification to the network terminal device 30 when the setting state of the operation mode is changed, The setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device stored in the network terminal device 30 and the management center 10 can be updated. Therefore, the setting change by remote operation and the local setting change can coexist.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the vehicle user transmits the setting change contents of the operation mode of the desired in-vehicle device to the operator of the management center 10 by voice communication of the mobile phone. However, the method of transmitting the setting change contents of the operation mode of the desired in-vehicle device to the management center 10 is not limited to such an example. For example, the management center 10 prepares a page for changing the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device for each vehicle on the website, and the vehicle user accesses the page of his / her vehicle and desires You may make it input the change content of the operation | movement aspect of the vehicle-mounted apparatus to perform. At this time, since the management center 10 grasps the latest setting state of the operation mode of each in-vehicle device, by displaying the contents, the vehicle user can set the current operation state of each in-vehicle device. Therefore, convenience can be improved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Management center 20 Mobile phone 30 Network terminal device 40-42, 50-52 ECU of vehicle equipment

Claims (3)

A remote vehicle customization system for customizing operation modes of in-vehicle devices by remote control,
A management center that transmits a setting change command for customizing the operation mode of the in-vehicle device;
A mobile phone that is carried by a user of the vehicle and receives and stores the setting change command transmitted from the management center;
A network terminal device mounted on the vehicle, having a communication function with the mobile phone, and connected to the vehicle-mounted device via a network;
When the user gets on the vehicle and the mobile phone and the network terminal device are in a communicable state, the setting change command stored in the mobile phone is transmitted to the network terminal device, The network terminal device changes the setting of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device by transmitting the received setting change command to the in-vehicle device. When the in-vehicle device changes the setting of its operation mode, it transmits the changed state data indicating the changed setting state to the network terminal,
The network terminal device stores setting state data relating to the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device, and when the changed state data is received from the in-vehicle device, the setting state before and after the change is received for the mobile phone. While sending the difference data indicating the difference of the data, update the saved setting state data,
The mobile phone transmits the difference data received from the network terminal device to the management center when communicating with the management center,
The management center stores the setting state of the in-vehicle device for each vehicle, and when the difference data is received from the mobile phone, the setting state of the in-vehicle device of the corresponding vehicle in the stored setting state The remote vehicle customization system according to claim 1, wherein the remote vehicle customization system is updated.   The remote vehicle customization system according to claim 2, wherein the setting state of the operation mode of the in-vehicle device can be changed by a user operation on the in-vehicle device in addition to being changed by the setting change command. .

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