JP6003824B2 - Traffic light control system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a traffic light control system that controls the operation of traffic lights on a road in accordance with travel of an emergency vehicle.

  Patent Document 1 proposes an emergency vehicle guidance device that adjusts signal parameters of a series of traffic signals along the travel route so that the emergency vehicle can travel smoothly along the travel route of the emergency vehicle. Yes. This emergency vehicle guidance device waits for a signal on the road of the emergency vehicle when it reaches each intersection, taking into account the traffic situation of the intersection on the route through which the emergency vehicle passes and the arrival time to each intersection. The green signal time is controlled for each traffic signal so that no vehicle exists or the traffic jam is eliminated.

JP 2009-146137 A

  For example, when an emergency vehicle is directed to a destination based on a report, the emergency vehicle is directed from another location depending on the traffic conditions of the road, rather than from the nearest fire department or police station from the destination. May arrive at their destination early. For example, an emergency vehicle may be directed to a destination from another fire station or police station that is not nearest. Further, for example, it is conceivable that a traveling emergency vehicle on the way to return to a fire department or a police station after finishing the role is directed to a destination. However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 is for arriving at a specific specific emergency vehicle to the destination, and does not take into consideration the use of other emergency vehicles.

  Further, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the traffic signal is controlled with priority given to the emergency vehicle, the red signal time becomes longer on the road other than the travel route of the emergency vehicle, and there is a possibility that traffic congestion or the like occurs. The technology described in Patent Document 1 does not consider the influence on surrounding non-emergency vehicles caused by giving priority to emergency vehicles.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a traffic light control system capable of causing an emergency vehicle to arrive at a destination earlier. Another object of the present invention is to provide a traffic light control system that reduces the influence on a non-emergency vehicle due to the traffic light control.

A traffic signal control system according to the present invention is mounted on an emergency vehicle, and includes position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of the emergency vehicle, and position information transmission means for transmitting position information acquired by the position information acquisition means. Emergency vehicle communication apparatus, position information receiving means for receiving position information transmitted by position information transmitting means of the emergency vehicle communication apparatus, and a plurality of positions received by the position information receiving means from a plurality of emergency vehicle communication apparatuses Based on the information, emergency vehicle information generating means for generating emergency vehicle information relating to the positions of a plurality of emergency vehicles, dispatch location determining means for determining the dispatch location of the emergency vehicle, and emergency vehicle generated by the emergency vehicle information generating means Emergency vehicle position having information transmitting means for dispatch vehicle determination for transmitting information and information related to the dispatch location determined by the dispatch location determining means, and storing location information of a plurality of emergency vehicles Information storage device, non-emergency vehicle position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of non-emergency vehicles other than the emergency vehicle, and traffic for determining road traffic conditions based on the position information acquired by the non-emergency vehicle position information acquisition means Situation determining means, dispatch vehicle determining information receiving means for receiving emergency vehicle information and dispatch site information transmitted by the dispatch vehicle determining information transmitting means of the emergency vehicle position information storage device, and the traffic condition determining means Based on the traffic situation and the emergency vehicle information received by the dispatch vehicle determination information receiving means and information related to the dispatch location, dispatch vehicle determination means for determining an emergency vehicle to be dispatched to the dispatch location, the dispatch vehicle determination means determines A travel route determining means for determining a travel route on which the emergency vehicle should travel, a dispatch vehicle determined by the dispatch vehicle determining means, and the travel route determining means A traffic situation determination device having dispatch vehicle information transmission means for transmitting information relating to the determined travel route, and dispatch vehicle information reception means for receiving information relating to the travel route transmitted by the dispatch vehicle information transmission means of the traffic situation determination device And an emergency vehicle position information storage device comprising: a traffic light control means having a traffic light control means for controlling the operation of the traffic light installed on the road based on information relating to the travel route received by the dispatch vehicle information receiving means. The dispatch vehicle information receiving means for receiving the dispatch vehicle and the travel route information transmitted by the dispatch vehicle information transmitting means of the traffic condition judging device, and the emergency vehicle for the emergency vehicle received by the dispatch vehicle information receiving means. to the communication device, further possess a travel route information transmitting means for transmitting the information relating to traveling route to which the dispatching vehicle information receiving means receives, the dispatching vehicle determining means Is characterized in that the emergency vehicle that can reach the dispatch site from the current position of the emergency vehicle in the shortest time is determined as the dispatch vehicle .

  The traffic light control system according to the present invention further includes a non-emergency vehicle communication device that is mounted on a non-emergency vehicle and communicates with the traffic condition determination device, wherein the traffic condition determination device includes the travel route determination means. Characterized in that it includes avoidance information transmitting means for transmitting information for avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle determined by the non-emergency vehicle communication device.

  In the traffic light control system according to the present invention, the non-emergency vehicle communication device acquires position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of the non-emergency vehicle, and destination information for acquiring destination information of the non-emergency vehicle. And a non-emergency vehicle information transmitting unit that transmits the position information acquired by the position information acquiring unit and the destination information acquired by the destination information acquiring unit to the traffic situation determination device, The situation determination device is a non-emergency vehicle that avoids the travel route of the emergency vehicle determined by the travel route determination unit based on the position information and destination information transmitted by the non-emergency vehicle information transmission unit of the non-emergency vehicle communication device. The avoidance travel route determination means determines the travel route of the non-emergency vehicle, and the avoidance information transmission means uses the travel route for the non-emergency vehicle determined by the avoidance travel route determination means as the non-emergency vehicle communication device. Characterized in that you have to transmit to.

  Further, the traffic light control system according to the present invention has an estimation means for estimating the arrival time of the emergency vehicle with respect to the traffic signal provided in the travel route determined by the travel route determination means, the traffic condition determination device, The dispatch vehicle information transmission means of the traffic condition determination device is configured to transmit information related to the arrival time estimated by the estimation means, and the traffic signal control means of the traffic light control device is received by the dispatch vehicle information reception means. The operation of the traffic light is controlled based on information related to the arrival time.

  Moreover, the traffic signal control system according to the present invention includes a traffic signal state information transmission unit in which the traffic signal control device transmits information related to a control state of the traffic signal to the traffic status determination device, A traffic signal status information receiving means for receiving information transmitted by the traffic signal status information transmitting means of the traffic signal control device, and a traffic signal for transmitting the information received by the traffic signal status information receiving means to the emergency vehicle determined by the dispatch vehicle determining means. And status information transmission means.

Further, the traffic light control system according to the present invention acquires emergency vehicle position information, and generates emergency vehicle information generating means for generating emergency vehicle information related to the positions of a plurality of emergency vehicles, and dispatch for determining a dispatch location of the emergency vehicle. Based on location determination means, non-emergency vehicle position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of non-emergency vehicles other than the emergency vehicle, and position information acquired by the non-emergency vehicle position information acquisition means, the traffic condition of the road is determined. Based on the traffic situation determination means, the traffic situation determined by the traffic situation determination means, the emergency vehicle information generated by the emergency vehicle information generation means, and the information relating to the dispatch place determined by the dispatch place determination means, to the dispatch place Dispatch vehicle determination means for determining an emergency vehicle to be dispatched, travel route determination means for determining a travel route on which the emergency vehicle determined by the dispatch vehicle determination means should travel, To the traffic route determined by the travel route determination means to the traffic signal control means for controlling the operation of the traffic light installed on the road and the dispatch vehicle determined by the dispatch vehicle determination means. Traveling route information transmitting means for transmitting such information , wherein the dispatch vehicle determining means determines the emergency vehicle that can reach the dispatch site from the current position of the emergency vehicle in the shortest time as the dispatch vehicle .

In the present invention, an emergency vehicle communication device mounted on an emergency vehicle, an emergency vehicle position information storage device installed in an emergency vehicle management facility such as a fire station or a police station, collection of vehicle information, and information relating to traffic conditions Traffic status judgment device that performs distribution, etc., and traffic light control device that controls the operation of traffic lights installed on the road, respectively, exchange information, appropriate dispatch of emergency vehicles, switching control of traffic signals with priority on this emergency vehicle, etc. I do.
Of these multiple devices, the functions of one or more devices may be integrated into one device. For example, the emergency vehicle position information storage device and the traffic situation determination device may be a single device. For example, the traffic situation determination device and the traffic light control device may be a single device. Further, for example, the emergency vehicle position information storage device, the traffic condition determination device, and the traffic light control device may be combined into one device.
In addition, the function of the one device may be distributed to a plurality of devices. For example, it is good also as a structure which implement | achieves the acquisition function of the positional information which the communication apparatus for emergency vehicles has, and the transmission function of the acquired positional information with a different apparatus.

The emergency vehicle communication device acquires the location information of the emergency vehicle and transmits it to the emergency vehicle location information storage device.
The emergency vehicle location information storage device generates emergency vehicle information based on a plurality of location information received from a plurality of emergency vehicle communication devices, and transmits information related to the dispatch location of the emergency vehicle to the traffic situation determination device.
The traffic situation determination device acquires position information of a non-emergency vehicle to determine the traffic situation, and determines an emergency vehicle to be dispatched based on the emergency vehicle information received from the emergency vehicle position information storage device and information related to the dispatch location. To do. Further, the traffic condition determination device determines a travel route on which the emergency vehicle to be dispatched should travel, and transmits information on the emergency vehicle to be dispatched and the travel route to be traveled to the emergency vehicle position information storage device and the traffic signal control device. .
The emergency vehicle position information storage device transmits information on the travel route to be traveled to the emergency vehicle to be dispatched based on the reception information from the traffic condition determination device.
The traffic signal control device controls the traffic signal to give priority to the travel of the emergency vehicle based on the received information from the traffic condition determination device.
Thus, an emergency vehicle suitable for the traffic situation on the road can be dispatched to the destination, and the operation of the traffic light can be controlled according to the travel of the emergency vehicle.

  In the present invention, the non-emergency vehicle communication device mounted on the non-emergency vehicle communicates with the traffic condition determination device. The traffic situation determination device transmits information for avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle to the non-emergency vehicle communication device. Thereby, the non-emergency vehicle can avoid congestion and the like that may occur due to priority switching of traffic lights accompanying the travel of the emergency vehicle.

  In the present invention, the non-emergency vehicle communication device transmits the non-emergency vehicle position information and destination information to the traffic condition determination device. Based on the information received from the non-emergency vehicle communication device, the traffic situation determination device transmits an avoidance travel route that avoids the travel route of the emergency vehicle to the non-emergency vehicle communication device. Thereby, the non-emergency vehicle can travel on the avoidance travel route.

  In the present invention, the traffic situation determination device estimates the arrival time of the emergency vehicle with respect to the traffic signal provided in the travel route of the emergency vehicle, and transmits information related to the arrival time to the traffic signal control device. The traffic signal control device controls the operation of the traffic signal based on information related to the arrival time of the emergency vehicle. As a result, it is possible to more reliably perform the switching control of the traffic signal giving priority to the emergency vehicle.

  In the present invention, the traffic signal control device transmits information related to the control state of the traffic signal to the traffic condition determination device. The traffic situation determination device transmits the information received from the traffic signal control device to the emergency vehicle communication device of the emergency vehicle that has been determined to be dispatched. As a result, the emergency vehicle can check the state of the traffic lights on the travel route. Information transmission from the traffic situation determination device to the emergency vehicle communication device may be performed directly or via an emergency vehicle position information storage device.

  According to the present invention, the emergency vehicle can be arrived at the dispatch site earlier by determining the emergency vehicle to be dispatched based on the position of the emergency vehicle, the dispatch location, and the traffic situation. In addition, by transmitting information for avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle to the non-emergency vehicle, it is possible to reduce the influence on the non-emergency vehicle due to the control of the traffic light that gives priority to the emergency vehicle.

It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the outline of the traffic signal control system which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the apparatus mounted in an emergency vehicle. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the apparatus mounted in a general vehicle. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the apparatus installed in a fire fighting center. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of emergency vehicle information. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of a telematics server. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of a traffic signal control apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which the communication apparatus of an emergency vehicle performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the update process of emergency vehicle information which the emergency vehicle management apparatus of a fire fighting center performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the dispatch request process which the emergency vehicle management apparatus of a fire fighting center performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the update process of the traffic condition information which a telematics server performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which a telematics server performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which a telematics server performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the dispatch vehicle determination process which a telematics server performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which a traffic signal control apparatus performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which the communication apparatus of a general vehicle performs.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings showing embodiments thereof. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the outline of the traffic light control system according to the present embodiment. In the traffic light control system according to the present embodiment, the fire fighting center 3 manages the current position, dispatch location, and the like of each emergency vehicle 1 by communication between the plurality of emergency vehicles 1 and the fire fighting center 3. The fire fighting center 3 dispatches one of the emergency vehicles 1 in response to a report from the reporter 4. The telematics server 5 determines which emergency vehicle 1 is dispatched.

  The telematics server 5 communicates with the emergency vehicle 1 and the general vehicle 2 and acquires the positional information and vehicle speed of these vehicles to determine the road traffic situation. The telematics server 5 performs processing for exchanging information with the fire fighting center 3 and determining an emergency vehicle 1 and its travel route that are optimal for dispatching to the destination. The telematics server 5 transmits information related to the emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched and the travel route to the traffic light control device 7. The telematics server 5 transmits information related to the avoidance route for avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 to each general vehicle 2.

  The traffic light control device 7 is a device that controls the operation of a plurality of traffic lights 8 installed on the road. Based on the information from the telematics server 5, the traffic signal control device 7 switches each of the traffic lights 8 installed on the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 so as to switch the lighting state giving priority to the travel of the emergency vehicle 1. The operation of the traffic light 8 is controlled. The traffic signal controller 7 transmits information such as the lighting state of each traffic signal 8 to the telematics server 5. The telematics server 5 transmits information from the traffic light control device 7 to the emergency vehicle 1.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the device mounted on the emergency vehicle 1. FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of a device mounted on the general vehicle 2. In addition, since both structures are substantially the same, below, the structure regarding the emergency vehicle 1 is demonstrated, description is abbreviate | omitted about the structure regarding the general vehicle 2, and a corresponding code | symbol is described in parenthesis. The emergency vehicle 1 (general vehicle 2) includes a communication device 10 (20), a car navigation device 11 (21), a vehicle speed sensor 12 (22), and the like.

  The communication device 10 (20) includes a control unit 101 (201), an in-vehicle communication unit 102 (202), an out-of-vehicle communication unit 103 (203), and the like, and is a device for relaying communication inside and outside the vehicle. is there. The in-vehicle communication unit 102 (202) is connected to the in-vehicle network of the emergency vehicle 1 (general vehicle 2), and communicates with other in-vehicle devices such as the car navigation device 11 (21) via the in-vehicle network. The vehicle exterior communication unit 103 (203) communicates with a device outside the vehicle by wireless communication using, for example, a public mobile phone network or a wireless local area network (LAN). In the present embodiment, the vehicle communication unit 103 of the emergency vehicle 1 communicates with the fire fighting center 3 and the telematics server 5, and the vehicle communication unit 203 of the general vehicle 2 communicates with the telematics server 5.

  The control unit 101 (201) of the communication device 10 (20) transmits information received from another in-vehicle device by the in-vehicle communication unit 102 (202) from the out-of-vehicle communication unit 103 (203) to a device outside the vehicle. Perform control processing. For example, the control unit 101 (201) acquires position information and vehicle speed information from the car navigation device 11 (21) and transmits the position information and vehicle speed information to the fire fighting center 3 or the telematics server 5 or the like. In addition, the control unit 101 (201) performs control processing for transmitting information from a device outside the vehicle received by the vehicle communication unit 103 (203) to another vehicle-mounted device by the vehicle communication unit 102 (202). . For example, the control unit 101 (201) receives travel route information from the fire fighting center 3 or the telematics server 5 and transmits it to the car navigation device 11 (21). The car navigation device 11 (21) can perform processing such as displaying travel route information given from the communication device 10 (20).

  The car navigation device 11 (21) includes a processing unit 111 (211), a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving unit 112 (212), an in-vehicle communication unit 113 (213), a storage unit 114 (214), and a display unit 115 (215). And an operation unit 116 (216). The GPS receiving unit 112 (212) receives a radio wave from a GPS artificial satellite and gives a reception result to the processing unit 111 (211). Based on the reception result from the GPS receiving unit 112 (212), the detection result of the vehicle speed sensor 12 (22) and the map information stored in the storage unit 114 (214), the processing unit 111 (211) 1 (general vehicle 2) can be calculated.

  The in-vehicle communication unit 113 (213) communicates with other in-vehicle devices such as the communication device 10 (20) via the in-vehicle network. In the present embodiment, the position information calculated by the processing unit 111 (211) and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 12 (22) are transmitted from the car navigation device 11 (21) to the communication device 10 (20). To do. The storage unit 114 (214) stores map information and the like. The processing unit 111 (211) performs processing such as calculation of position information based on the map information stored in the storage unit 114 (214) and map display on the display unit 115 (215). The display unit 115 (215) is configured using a liquid crystal panel or the like, and is arranged near the driver's seat of the emergency vehicle 1 (general vehicle 2). Based on the processing of the processing unit 111 (211), the display unit 115 (215) can display surrounding map information or route information to the destination. The operation unit 116 (216) is configured using a push button, a touch panel, or the like, and is disposed in the vicinity of the display unit 115 (215). The operation unit 116 (216) receives, for example, a destination setting operation and notifies the processing unit 111 (211).

  In the present embodiment, the communication device 10 mounted on the emergency vehicle 1 acquires position information related to the current traveling position from the car navigation device 11, and adds a vehicle ID (IDentifier) to the acquired position information to provide a fire fighting center. The process to transmit to 3 is performed. When the communication device 10 receives a dispatch request from the firefighting center 3, the communication device 10 gives an operation instruction to the car navigation device 11 and displays on the display unit 115 that the dispatch request has been given. At this time, the communication device 10 receives information on the emergency dispatch destination (dispatch location) and the travel route from the current position to the destination from the fire fighting center 3, and displays them on the display unit 115 of the car navigation device 11. Let

  Thereafter, the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 that has entered an emergency traveling state by driving a siren, a red light, or the like transmits position information, vehicle speed, and other information from the outside communication unit 103 to the telematics server 5. Further, the telematics server 5 transmits the traffic signal information relating to the lighting state of the traffic signal 8 acquired from the traffic signal control device 7 to the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1. The communication device 10 gives the received traffic signal information to the car navigation device 11 and causes the display unit 115 to display information regarding the lighting state of the traffic signal 8 on the travel route.

  The communication device 20 mounted on the general vehicle 2 performs processing for acquiring the position information regarding the current traveling position and the vehicle speed information detected by the vehicle speed sensor 22 from the car navigation device 21 and transmitting them to the telematics server 5. The telematics server 5 transmits avoidance information for avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 to the communication device 20. For example, the avoidance information may be the travel route itself of the emergency vehicle 1. For example, when the communication device 20 is configured to transmit the destination information set in the car navigation device 21 to the telematics server 5, the telematics server 5 avoids the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 and the general vehicle 2 is currently present. Travel route information for traveling from the position to the destination may be created and transmitted as avoidance information. The communication device 20 that has received the avoidance information from the telematics server 5 gives this information to the car navigation device 21 and causes the display unit 215 to display the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 or the avoidance route that the general vehicle 2 should travel. .

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of a device installed in the fire fighting center 3. The firefighting center 3 is provided with an emergency vehicle management device 30, a notification receiving device 31, and the like. The report receiving device 31 is a device for receiving a report from the reporter 4 by telephone or electronic mail. Based on the report received by the report receiving device 31, information such as the type of the emergency vehicle 1 requiring dispatch and the address of the destination is input to the emergency vehicle management device 30. The input process of the information to the emergency vehicle management apparatus 30 may be configured to be automatically performed by the report receiving apparatus 31, or may be configured to be performed by a part of or all of the processing by the operator of the apparatus.

  The emergency vehicle management device 30 includes a processing unit 301, a storage unit 302, an input unit 303, a first communication unit 304, a second communication unit 305, and the like. The processing unit 301 is configured using an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), and performs management processing of the emergency vehicle 1. The first communication unit 304 communicates with the communication device 10 mounted on the emergency vehicle 1 to provide the information received from the communication device 10 to the processing unit 301 and to send the information provided from the processing unit 301 to an appropriate emergency It transmits to the communication apparatus 10 of the vehicle 1. The processing unit 301 aggregates vehicle IDs and position information received from the plurality of communication devices 10 by the first communication unit 304, and displays information such as the current position of the plurality of emergency vehicles 1 and whether or not the vehicle is in emergency travel. The emergency vehicle information 302 a is created and stored in the storage unit 302.

  The storage unit 302 is configured using a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores information given from the processing unit 301. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 302 stores emergency vehicle information 302a. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the emergency vehicle information 302a. The emergency vehicle information 302a includes a vehicle ID that is individually assigned to the emergency vehicle 1, position information received from the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1, and whether each emergency vehicle 1 is in an emergency driving state or a normal driving state. Are stored in association with each other. The processing unit 301 updates the emergency vehicle information 302 a in the storage unit 302 every time the first communication unit 304 receives information from the emergency vehicle 1.

  The input unit 303 receives information such as the type of the emergency vehicle 1 that needs to be dispatched and the address of the destination, which is input based on the report received by the report reception device 31, and provides the information to the processing unit 301. When information related to the notification is input through the input unit 303, the processing unit 301 determines a destination to which the emergency vehicle 1 is dispatched based on the input information, and creates destination information. For example, the processing unit 301 can calculate the latitude, longitude, and the like of the destination based on the map information from the input destination address to obtain the destination information. For example, the processing unit 301 may use the input destination address as destination information.

  The second communication unit 305 communicates with the telematics server 5 via a network such as the Internet, gives information received from the telematics server 5 to the processing unit 301, and sends information given from the processing unit 301 to the telematics server 5. Send. When information related to the notification is input through the input unit 303, the processing unit 301 transmits the created destination information and the emergency vehicle information 302a stored in the storage unit 302 to the telematics server 5 through the second communication unit 305. To do. The emergency vehicle information 302a to be transmitted to the telematics server 5 may be extracted by extracting information about the normal traveling state.

  The telematics server 5 determines which emergency vehicle 1 should be dispatched based on the traffic status information managed by the telematics server 5 and the information given from the emergency vehicle management device 30, and the emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched and its Information related to the travel route is transmitted to the emergency vehicle management device 30. When the information from the telematics server 5 is received by the second communication unit 305, the processing unit 301 transmits a dispatch request to the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 that should be dispatched by the first communication unit 304. , Information related to the destination and travel route is transmitted. Further, the processing unit 301 changes the traveling state of the emergency vehicle information 302a from the normal traveling to the emergency traveling for the emergency vehicle 1 that is supposed to be dispatched.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the telematics server 5. The telematics server 5 includes a processing unit 51, a storage unit 52, a first communication unit 53, a second communication unit 54, a third communication unit 55, and the like. The processing unit 51 is configured by using an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU or an MPU, and performs processing for determining road traffic conditions. The storage unit 52 is configured using a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores information given from the processing unit 51. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 52 stores map information 52a, traffic condition information 52b, and the like. The map information 52a is information storing the positions of roads, traffic lights 8, and the like. The traffic status information 52 b is information that stores the traffic volume and traffic congestion status of each road, and is information that is updated by the processing of the processing unit 51.

  The first communication unit 53 communicates with the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 and the communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2, and provides information received from the communication device 10 or 20 to the processing unit 51 and also from the processing unit 51. The received information is transmitted to an appropriate communication device 10 or 20. In the present embodiment, the telematics server 5 receives position information, vehicle speed information, and the like from the communication devices 20 of the plurality of general vehicles 2 by the first communication unit 53 and stores the received plurality of information and the storage unit 52 in the map. Based on the information 52a, the processing unit 51 determines the traffic volume and the traffic congestion status of each road and updates the traffic status information 52b.

  The second communication unit 54 communicates with the emergency vehicle management device 30 of the firefighting center 3 via a network such as the Internet, and gives the information received from the emergency vehicle management device 30 to the processing unit 51 and from the processing unit 51. The given information is transmitted to the emergency vehicle management apparatus 30. In the present embodiment, when the telematics server 5 receives emergency vehicle information 302a and destination information for dispatching the emergency vehicle 1 from the emergency vehicle management device 30, the second communication unit 54 receives these received information and storage unit. Based on the traffic condition information 52b stored in 52, the processing unit 51 determines which emergency vehicle 1 should be dispatched to the destination and the travel route to the destination of the emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched. Do. The processing unit 51 transmits information related to the emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched and its travel route from the second communication unit 54 to the fire fighting center 3.

  For example, for each emergency vehicle 1 included in the emergency vehicle information 302a, the processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 determines the optimal travel route from the current position to the destination and the arrival at the destination when traveling on this travel route. To calculate the travel time required. At this time, the processing unit 51 refers to the traffic condition information 52b and calculates a travel route that bypasses a road that is determined not to be able to eliminate traffic jams even when the traffic light 8 that prioritizes the emergency vehicle 1 is switched. The processing unit 51 can set the emergency vehicle 1 having the shortest travel time to the destination as the emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched.

  The third communication unit 55 communicates with the traffic signal control device 7 via a network such as the Internet, and provides the information received from the traffic signal control device 7 to the processing unit 51 and the information provided from the processing unit 51 to the traffic signal. It transmits to the control apparatus 7. In the present embodiment, the telematics server 5 calculates the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 calculated as described above and the estimated arrival time of the emergency vehicle 1 at the intersection where the traffic light 8 is installed in the travel route. The signal is transmitted from the communication unit 55 to the traffic signal control device 7. At this time, the processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 communicates with the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 in the first communication unit 53, acquires the position information and the vehicle speed information of the emergency vehicle 1, and calculates the estimated arrival time. calculate. The traffic light control device 7 controls the traffic light 8 based on information from the telematics server 5, and transmits traffic light information regarding the lighting state of the traffic light 8 in the travel route to the telematics server 5. The processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 transmits the traffic signal information received by the third communication unit 55 from the first communication unit 53 to the emergency vehicle 1 that should be dispatched.

  In addition, the processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 generates avoidance information for avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 for the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 and the general vehicle 2 existing in the vicinity of the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1. 53. For example, the avoidance information may be the travel route itself of the emergency vehicle 1. By notifying the general vehicle 2 of the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1, the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 can be displayed on the display unit 215 of the car navigation device 21 of the general vehicle 2. The travel route of the vehicle 1 can be avoided. Further, for example, when the general vehicle 2 transmits the destination information set in the car navigation device 21 to the telematics server 5, the processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 calculates an appropriate avoidance route to the general vehicle 2. You may send it.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the traffic signal control device 7. The traffic signal controller 7 includes a control unit 71, a storage unit 72, a communication unit 73, a control signal output unit 74, and the like. The control unit 71 performs control processing related to switching of the lighting state of the traffic light 8. The storage unit 72 stores traffic signal position information 72 a regarding the installation position of the traffic signal 8 to be controlled by the traffic signal control device 7. The communication unit 73 communicates with the telematics server 5 via a network such as the Internet, gives information received from the telematics server 5 to the control unit 71, and transmits information given from the control unit 71 to the telematics server 5. To do. The control signal output unit 74 outputs a control signal related to switching of the lighting state to each of the plurality of traffic lights 8.

  The control unit 71 outputs a control signal to the traffic light 8 in order to switch the lighting state of the traffic light at a predetermined timing in a normal state. When the communication unit 73 receives the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 and the predicted arrival time at the intersection where the traffic light 8 is installed in the travel route from the telematics server 5, the control unit 71 receives the received information and storage unit 72. On the basis of the traffic signal position information 72a stored in the above, switching control of the traffic signal 8 giving priority to traveling of the emergency vehicle 1 is performed. For example, the control unit 71 can perform processing such as extending the green light lighting time of the traffic light 8 for the travel route in order to eliminate the congestion on the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1. Further, for example, the control unit 71 can perform processing such as fixing the lighting state of the traffic light 8 with respect to the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 to a green light over the estimated arrival time at the intersection and a predetermined time before and after the estimated arrival time.

  Further, the control unit 71 generates traffic signal information related to the lighting state of the traffic signal 8 in the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 and transmits the traffic signal information to the telematics server 5 from the communication unit 73. The traffic light information can include, for example, the lighting color of the traffic light 8 at that time, the time until the traffic light changes to another lighting color, and the lighting duration of a specific color such as a blue signal or a red signal. The traffic signal information is transmitted from the telematics server 5 to the target emergency vehicle 1, and information is displayed on the display unit 115 of the car navigation device 11 of the emergency vehicle 1.

  In the traffic light control system according to the present embodiment, the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 and the emergency vehicle management device 30 of the firefighting center 3 communicate in a normal state (that is, a state where the emergency vehicle 1 does not need to be dispatched), The emergency vehicle management device 30 acquires the location information of the emergency vehicle 1 and manages it as emergency vehicle information 302a. In addition, the telematics server 5 communicates with the communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2 and manages road congestion conditions and the like as traffic condition information 52b based on the position information and vehicle speed information of each general vehicle 2. The traffic light control device 7 performs switching control of the lighting state of the traffic light 8 under a predetermined condition.

  When the report reception device 31 of the fire center 3 receives a report from the reporter 4 and information such as the type of the emergency vehicle 1 that needs to be dispatched and the address of the destination is input to the input unit 303 of the emergency vehicle management device 30. The processing unit 301 of the emergency vehicle management device 30 creates destination information for dispatching the emergency vehicle 1, and transmits the created destination information and the emergency vehicle information 302 a stored in the storage unit 302 to the telematics server 5. The processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 that has received the information from the emergency vehicle management device 30 should dispatch the emergency vehicle 1 to the destination based on the received information and the traffic condition information 52b stored in the storage unit 52. And the travel route to the destination for the emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched is determined. The processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 transmits information such as the determined emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched and its travel route to the emergency vehicle management device 30. The emergency vehicle management device 30 that has received the information from the telematics server 5 transmits information such as the destination and travel route to the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched together with a dispatch request. The communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 that has received the dispatch request from the emergency vehicle management device 30 causes the display unit 115 of the car navigation device 11 to display information such as the destination and the travel route that are given together with the dispatch request.

  The processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 transmits information such as the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 and the predicted arrival time to the traffic light 8 in the travel route to the traffic signal control device 7. The control unit 71 of the traffic signal control device 7 that has received the information from the telematics server 5 performs switching control of the traffic signal 8 giving priority to the travel of the emergency vehicle 1 based on the received information and the traffic signal position information 72 a stored in the storage unit 72. I do. Further, the control unit 71 generates traffic signal information regarding the traffic signal 8 in the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 and transmits the traffic signal information to the telematics server 5. The processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 that has received the traffic signal information from the traffic signal control device 7 transmits the traffic signal information to the communication device 10 of the target emergency vehicle 1. The communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 that has received the traffic signal information gives the traffic signal information to the car navigation device 11 and displays the lighting state of the traffic signal 8 on the travel route on the display unit 115.

  The processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 generates avoidance information for avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 and transmits the avoidance information to the communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2. The communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2 that has received the avoidance information from the telematics server 5 gives the avoidance information to the car navigation device 21 and performs processing such as displaying the avoidance route on the display unit 215.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed by the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1. The control unit 101 of the communication device 10 determines whether or not the outboard communication unit 103 has received a dispatch request from the emergency vehicle management device 30 of the fire fighting center 3 (step S1). When the dispatch request has not been received (S1: NO), the control unit 101 communicates with the car navigation device 11 by the in-vehicle communication unit 102 and the emergency vehicle 1 based on the signal received by the GPS receiving unit 112. Position information is acquired (step S2). The control unit 101 transmits the vehicle ID attached to the emergency vehicle 1 and the position information acquired in step S2 from the outside communication unit 103 to the emergency vehicle management device 30 of the fire fighting center 3 (step S3), and then proceeds to step S1. Return processing.

  When the departure request is received (S1: YES), the control unit 101 receives the destination information transmitted from the emergency vehicle management device 30 at the out-of-vehicle communication unit 103 (step S4) and also receives the travel route information. (Step S5). The control unit 101 displays information on the display unit 115 by giving the received destination information and travel route information to the car navigation device 11 (step S6).

  Next, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the traffic signal information is received from the telematics server 5 by the outside communication unit 103 (step S7). When the traffic signal information is received (S7: YES), the control unit 101 provides the received traffic signal information to the car navigation device 11 to display information such as the lighting state of the traffic signal 8 on the display unit 115 (step S8). ), The process proceeds to step S9. When the traffic signal information has not been received (S7: NO), the control unit 101 advances the process to step S9.

  Next, the control unit 101 communicates with the car navigation device 11 in the in-vehicle communication unit 102, acquires position information of the emergency vehicle 1 based on the signal received by the GPS receiving unit 112 (step S9), and a vehicle speed sensor. The vehicle speed information detected by 12 is acquired (step S10). The control unit 101 transmits the position information acquired in step S9 and the vehicle speed information acquired in step S10 from the external communication unit 103 to the telematics server 5 (step S11).

  Next, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the emergency traveling of the emergency vehicle 1 has ended (step S12). Whether or not the emergency travel has ended may be determined based on, for example, whether or not an emergency travel end notification has been received from the emergency vehicle management device 30. For example, a switch arranged near the driver's seat of the emergency vehicle 1 may be used. It may be determined by switching or the like, or may be determined by other methods. If it is determined that the emergency travel has not ended (S12: NO), the control unit 101 returns the process to step S7. If it is determined that the emergency travel has ended (S12: YES), the control unit 101 returns the process to step S1 and repeats the above process.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure of update processing of emergency vehicle information 302a performed by the emergency vehicle management device 30 of the fire fighting center 3. The processing unit 301 of the emergency vehicle management device 30 determines whether the first communication unit 304 has received information from the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 (step S21). When information is not received from the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 (S21: NO), the processing unit 301 waits until information is received. When the information is received (S21: YES), the processing unit 301 acquires the vehicle ID of the emergency vehicle 1 from the received information (step S22) and acquires the position information (step S23). Next, the processing unit 301 updates the emergency vehicle information 302a in the storage unit 302 based on the acquired vehicle ID and position information (step S24), and returns the process to step S21.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the dispatch request process performed by the emergency vehicle management device 30 of the fire fighting center 3. The processing unit 301 of the emergency vehicle management device 30 determines the presence / absence of a report from the reporter 4 according to the presence / absence of information input to the input unit 303 (step S31). : NO), wait until notification is made. When the notification is made (S31: YES), the processing unit 301 generates destination information related to the destination to which the emergency vehicle 1 is dispatched based on the input information (step S32). The processing unit 301 transmits the emergency vehicle information 302a stored in the storage unit 302 and the destination information generated in step S32 to the telematics server 5 in the second communication unit 305 (step S33).

  The processing unit 301 determines whether or not there is a response from the telematics server 5 to the information transmission in step S33 (step S34). When the response from the telematics server 5 cannot be obtained (S34: NO), the processing unit 301 selects the nearest vehicle to the destination from the emergency vehicle 1 included in the emergency vehicle information 302a, and communicates with the nearest emergency vehicle 1 The dispatch request and the destination information created in step S32 are transmitted to the device 10 (step S35), and the process is terminated.

  When the response from the telematics server 5 is obtained (S34: YES), the processing unit 301 acquires information on the emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched from the reception information received by the second communication unit 305 as a response ( Step S36), information on the travel route that the emergency vehicle 1 should travel to the destination is acquired (Step S37). The processing unit 301 transmits the dispatch request, the destination information created in step S32 and the travel route information received from the telematics server 5 to the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 that is supposed to be dispatched (step S38). The process ends.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure for updating the traffic status information 52b performed by the telematics server 5. The processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 determines whether or not the first communication unit 53 has received information from the communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2 (step S41). When the information is not received from the communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2 (S41: NO), the processing unit 51 stands by until the information is received. When the information is received (S41: YES), the processing unit 51 acquires the position information of the general vehicle 2 from the received information (Step S42) and acquires the vehicle speed information (Step S43). The processing unit 51 determines the traffic situation based on the acquired position information and vehicle speed information (step S44). The processing unit 51 updates the traffic situation information 52b stored in the storage unit 52 based on the determined traffic situation (step S45), and returns the process to step S41.

  12 and 13 are flowcharts showing a procedure of processing performed by the telematics server 5. The processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 determines whether the second communication unit 54 has received information from the emergency vehicle management device 30 of the fire fighting center 3 (step S51). When the information is not received (S51: NO), the processing unit 51 stands by until the information is received. When information is received from the emergency vehicle management apparatus 30 (S51: YES), the processing unit 51 acquires emergency vehicle information 302a from the received information (step S52) and also acquires destination information (step S53).

  Next, the processing unit 51 sends the emergency vehicle to be dispatched based on the emergency vehicle information 302a acquired in step S52, the destination information acquired in step S53, the map information 52a stored in the storage unit 52, and the traffic condition information 52b. A process of determining 1 is performed (step S54). Moreover, the process part 51 performs the process which determines the path | route which the emergency vehicle 1 should drive (step S55). The processing unit 51 transmits information on the determined emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched and its travel route to the emergency vehicle management device 30 of the fire fighting center 3 through the second communication unit 54 (step S56). The processing unit 51 generates avoidance information for avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 (step S57), and transmits the generated avoidance information to the communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2 (step S58).

  The processing unit 51 determines whether or not the first communication unit 53 has received information from the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 (step S59). When the information is received from the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 (S59: YES), the processing unit 51 acquires the position information of the emergency vehicle 1 from the received information (step S60) and acquires the vehicle speed information (step S61). ). Based on the acquired position information and vehicle speed information, the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1, the map information 52a and the traffic condition information 52b stored in the storage unit 52, the processing unit 51 is a traffic light 8 present in the travel route. The estimated arrival time of the emergency vehicle 1 is calculated (step S62). The processing unit 51 transmits the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 and the calculated predicted arrival time to the traffic light 8 to the traffic signal control device 7 by the third communication unit 55 (step S63), and returns the process to step S59.

  When the information is not received from the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 (S59: NO), the processing unit 51 determines whether or not the information from the traffic signal control device 7 is received by the third communication unit 53 ( Step S64). When the information is received from the traffic signal control device 7 (S64: YES), the processing unit 51 acquires the traffic signal information from the received information (step S65), and the first communication unit 53 receives the acquired traffic signal information in the first communication unit 53. The data is transmitted to the communication device 10 (step S66), and the process returns to step S59.

  When the information from the traffic signal control device 7 is not received (S64: NO), the processing unit 51 determines whether or not the communication process with the emergency vehicle 1 and the traffic signal control device 7 should be terminated (step S67). For example, the processing unit 51 may determine that the processing should be ended when it is determined that the emergency vehicle 1 has arrived at the destination, and that the processing should be ended in response to a notification from the fire fighting center 3, for example. It may be determined, or it may be determined that the process should be terminated based on other factors. If it is determined that the process should not be terminated (S67: NO), the processing unit 51 returns the process to step S59. When it is determined that the process should be ended (S67: YES), the processing unit 51 ends the process.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a procedure of dispatch vehicle determination processing performed by the telematics server 5, and is processing performed by the telematics server 5 in step S54 of the above-described flowchart. First, the processing unit 51 of the telematics server 5 reads the traffic condition information 52b stored in the storage unit 52 (step S71).

  Next, the processing unit 51 extracts a congested location (or a traffic jam location) on the road based on the traffic condition information 52b (step S72). At this time, the processing unit 51 can determine a congested portion of the road based on information such as the number of vehicles with respect to the length of the road and the traveling speed of the vehicle with respect to the speed limit of the road.

  Next, the processing unit 51 analyzes the cause of the congestion for each extracted congestion location (step S73). The cause of the congestion can be analyzed by determining what point on the map the congestion location extracted in step S72 is. For example, when congestion occurs at the intersection of a road, it can be determined that this congestion is caused by waiting for a signal at the intersection. For example, when congestion occurs at the crossing as a starting point, it can be determined that this congestion is caused by waiting for a crossing. For example, when congestion occurs near an uphill, it can be determined that the congestion is a natural traffic jam. For example, when congestion occurs starting from the accident occurrence point, it can be determined that this congestion is an accident traffic jam. Note that the cause of congestion is not limited to the above, and various other causes may be determined as the cause of congestion. However, in the present embodiment, the processing unit 51 determines whether the signal is waiting for a signal, a railroad crossing, a natural traffic jam, or an accident traffic jam as a cause of congestion.

  Thereafter, the processing unit 51 selects one emergency vehicle 1 that can be dispatched from the plurality of emergency vehicles 1 included in the emergency vehicle information 302a acquired from the firefighting center 3 (step S74). Based on the current position of the selected emergency vehicle 1 and the destination information acquired from the firefighting center 3, the processing unit 51 calculates a travel route through which the emergency vehicle 1 can arrive from the current position to the destination in the shortest time. (Step S75). The processing unit 51 stores the emergency vehicle 1 at this time, the calculated travel route, and the travel time to the destination in association with each other. The travel time to the destination is calculated in consideration of the congestion situation of the travel route.

  The processing unit 51 determines whether or not the calculated travel route includes a congested spot due to signal waiting (step S76). When a congested part is included in the travel route (S76: YES), the processing unit 51 recalculates the travel time to the destination when the emergency vehicle 1 travels the travel route (step S77). . This recalculation is for considering the switching control of the traffic light 8 giving priority to the emergency vehicle 1 by the traffic light control device 7. For example, when congestion is alleviated by performing switching control of the traffic light control device 7, the telematics server 5 uses the past actual reduction time as a history for each road as to how much the travel time of the congestion point has been reduced. Accumulate and remember. The processing unit 51 estimates the travel time reduction time by the switching control of the traffic light control device 7 based on the stored history, and recalculates the travel time to the destination of the emergency vehicle 1 based on the estimated reduction time. be able to.

  When the recalculation of the travel time is completed, or when the travel route does not include a congested spot due to a signal waiting (S76: NO), the processing unit 51 advances the process to step S78. The processing unit 51 determines whether or not the calculation of the travel route and the travel time to the destination has been completed for all the emergency vehicles 1 included in the emergency vehicle information 302a (step S78). When the calculation has not been completed for all the emergency vehicles 1 (S78: NO), the processing unit 51 returns the processing to step S74 and repeats the above processing.

  When the calculation has been completed for all emergency vehicles 1 (S78: YES), the processing unit 51 compares the travel times of the emergency vehicles 1 and selects the emergency vehicle 1 with the shortest travel time as the dispatch vehicle (step S79). ), The process is terminated.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed by the traffic signal control device 7. The control unit 71 of the traffic signal control device 7 determines whether or not the communication unit 73 has received information from the telematics server 5 (step S81). When information is not received (S81: NO), the control part 71 waits until information is received. When the information is received (S81: YES), the control unit 71 obtains the travel route information of the emergency vehicle 1 from the received information (step S82), and obtains the estimated arrival time at the traffic light on the travel route (step S82). S83). The control unit 71 gives priority to the travel of the emergency vehicle 1 based on the acquired travel route information and the estimated arrival time, the traffic signal position information 72a stored in the storage unit 72, and eliminates congestion on the travel route. Therefore, the switching control process of the lighting state of the traffic light 8 on the travel route is performed (step S84). Further, the control unit 71 generates traffic signal information related to the traffic signal 8, transmits the traffic signal information to the telematics server 5 through the communication unit 73 (step S85), and ends the process.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed by the communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2. The control unit 201 of the communication device 20 communicates with the car navigation device 21 in the in-vehicle communication unit 202, and acquires the position information of the general vehicle 2 based on the signal received by the GPS receiving unit 212 (step S91). The vehicle speed information detected by the vehicle speed sensor 22 is acquired (step S92). The control unit 201 transmits the acquired position information and vehicle speed information from the vehicle outside communication unit 203 to the telematics server 5 (step S93).

  The control unit 201 determines whether or not the avoidance information is received from the telematics server 5 in the outside communication unit 203 (step S94). When the avoidance information has not been received (S94: NO), the control unit 201 returns the process to step S91. When the avoidance information is received (S94: YES), the control unit 201 displays the information based on the avoidance information on the display unit 215 by giving the received avoidance information to the car navigation device 21 (step S95), and step S91. Return processing to.

  The traffic light control system according to the present embodiment having the above configuration includes the communication device 10 installed in the emergency vehicle 1, the emergency vehicle management device 30 installed in the firefighting center 3, the telematics server 5, and the traffic signal 8 installed on the road. Each of the traffic signal control devices 7 that control the operation of the vehicle performs information exchange, and performs appropriate dispatch of the emergency vehicle 1 and switching control of the traffic signal 8 giving priority to the emergency vehicle 1.

The communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 acquires position information based on GPS from the car navigation device 11 and transmits it to the emergency vehicle management device 30.
The emergency vehicle management device 30 generates and updates the emergency vehicle information 302a based on a plurality of pieces of position information received from the plurality of emergency vehicles 1, and generates information related to the dispatch location of the emergency vehicle 1 based on the notification. Then, the emergency vehicle information 302a and information on the dispatch place are transmitted to the telematics server 5.
The telematics server 5 acquires position information and vehicle speed information from the communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2, determines the traffic condition of the road, and updates the traffic condition information 52b. Further, the telematics server 5 determines the emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched and the travel route on which the emergency vehicle 1 is to travel based on the emergency vehicle information 302a received from the emergency vehicle management device 30 and the information related to the dispatch location. The information related to the determined emergency vehicle 1 and the travel route is transmitted to the emergency vehicle management device 30 and the traffic light control device 7.
Based on the information from the telematics server 5, the emergency vehicle management device 30 transmits information such as the dispatch location and the travel route to the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1 to be dispatched together with the dispatch request.
Based on information from the telematics server 5, the traffic signal control device 7 performs switching control of the lighting state of the traffic signal 8 in order to give priority to the traveling of the emergency vehicle 1.

  As a result, the traffic light control system according to the present embodiment can dispatch the emergency vehicle 1 suitable for the traffic situation on the road to the destination, and the operation of the traffic light 8 according to the travel of the emergency vehicle 1. Since it can control appropriately, it becomes possible to make emergency vehicle 1 arrive at the dispatch place based on a report earlier.

  In the traffic light control system according to the present embodiment, the communication device 20 mounted on the general vehicle 2 communicates with the telematics server 5, and the telematics server 5 generates avoidance information for avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1. To the communication device 20. As a result, the general vehicle 2 can avoid congestion that may occur due to priority switching of the traffic light 8 that accompanies the travel of the emergency vehicle 1. Therefore, the influence on the general vehicle 2 accompanying the control of the traffic light 8 giving priority to the emergency vehicle 1 can be reduced.

  Further, the communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2 can also transmit the position information and destination information of the general vehicle 2 to the telematics server 5. Based on the received information from the general vehicle 2, the telematics server 5 calculates the avoidance travel route for the general vehicle 2 to travel from the current position to the destination by avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1. To the communication device 20. Thus, the general vehicle 2 can display the avoidance travel route on the display unit 21 of the car navigation device 21 and travel on the avoidance route. This configuration is not described in the flowchart.

  The telematics server 5 calculates the estimated arrival time of the emergency vehicle 1 with respect to the traffic light 8 provided in the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 and transmits the calculation result to the traffic signal control device 7. Since the traffic signal control device 7 can control the operation of the traffic signal 8 in the travel route based on the estimated arrival time from the telematics server 5, the control of the traffic signal 8 giving priority to the emergency vehicle 1 should be performed reliably. Can do.

  Further, the traffic signal control device 7 transmits traffic signal information relating to the control state of the traffic signal 8 to the telematics server 5. The telematics server 5 transmits the received traffic signal information to the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1. As a result, in the emergency vehicle 1, the state of the traffic light 8 on the travel route and the like can be displayed on the display unit 115 of the car navigation device 11.

  In the present embodiment, the traffic light control system includes the communication device 10 of the emergency vehicle 1, the communication device 20 of the general vehicle 2, the emergency vehicle management device 30 of the firefighting center 3, the telematics server 5, and the traffic signal control device 7. Although the configuration is such that processing is performed by exchanging information among a plurality of devices, the device configuration for realizing the traffic light control system is not limited to the above. Among these devices, the functions of one or more devices may be integrated into one device. For example, the emergency vehicle management device 30 and the telematics server 5 may be a single device. For example, the telematics server 30 and the traffic signal management device 7 may be a single device. For example, the emergency vehicle management device 30, the telematics server 5, and the traffic signal management device 7 may be a single device. For example, the communication device 10 and the car navigation device 11 of the emergency vehicle 1 may be a single device, and the communication device 20 and the car navigation device 21 of the general vehicle 2 may be a single device. In addition, the function of the one device may be distributed to a plurality of devices.

  In addition, although a plurality of traffic lights 8 are controlled by one traffic signal controller 7, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, one traffic light control device 7 may be provided for one traffic light 8, and the telematics server 30 may select the traffic light control device 7 in the travel route of the emergency vehicle 1 and transmit information. For example, it is good also as a structure which provides one traffic signal control apparatus 7 with respect to one intersection of a road.

  Moreover, although the communication apparatus 10 and the telematics server 5 of the emergency vehicle 1 directly communicated and set it as the structure which transmits / receives positional information and vehicle speed information, it is not restricted to this. For example, the emergency vehicle management device 30 of the fire fighting center 3 may be interposed between the communication device 10 and the telematics server 5 so that the emergency vehicle management device 30 relays transmission / reception of position information and vehicle speed information.

  In addition, the communication device 10 performs communication between the emergency vehicle 1 and a device outside the vehicle, but the communication device 10 may not be a vehicle-mounted device. For example, a portable device having a communication function such as a mobile phone may be connected to the car navigation device 11 to communicate with a device outside the vehicle.

1 Emergency Vehicle 10 Communication Device (Emergency Vehicle Communication Device)
101 Control unit (position information acquisition means, position information transmission means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 In-vehicle communication part 103 Out-of-vehicle communication part 11 Car navigation apparatus 111 Processing part 112 GPS receiving part 113 In-vehicle communication part 114 Memory | storage part 115 Display part 116 Operation part 2 General vehicle (non-emergency vehicle)
20 Communication device (non-emergency vehicle communication device)
201 control unit (position information acquisition means, destination information acquisition means, non-emergency vehicle information transmission means)
202 in-vehicle communication unit 203 external communication unit 21 car navigation device 211 processing unit 212 GPS reception unit 213 in-vehicle communication unit 214 storage unit 215 display unit 216 operation unit 3 fire fighting center 30 emergency vehicle management device (emergency vehicle position information storage device)
301 processing unit (position information receiving means, emergency vehicle information generating means, dispatch location determining means, dispatch vehicle determining information transmitting means, dispatch vehicle information receiving means, travel route information transmitting means)
302 storage unit 302a emergency vehicle information 303 input unit 304 first communication unit 305 second communication unit 31 report reception device 4 reporter 5 telematics server (traffic condition determination device)
51 processing unit (non-emergency vehicle position information acquisition means, traffic condition determination means, dispatch vehicle determination information reception means, dispatch vehicle determination means, travel route determination means, dispatch vehicle information transmission means, avoidance information transmission means, avoidance travel route determination Means, estimation means, traffic light state information reception means, traffic light state information transmission means)
52 storage unit 52a map information 52b traffic condition information 53 first communication unit 54 second communication unit 55 third communication unit 7 traffic signal control device 71 control unit (dispatch vehicle information reception means, traffic signal control means, traffic signal status information transmission means)
72 storage unit 72a traffic signal position information 73 communication unit 74 control signal output unit 8 traffic signal

Claims (6)

An emergency vehicle communication device mounted on an emergency vehicle and having position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of the emergency vehicle; and position information transmission means for transmitting position information acquired by the position information acquisition means;
Position information receiving means for receiving the position information transmitted by the position information transmitting means of the emergency vehicle communication device, and a plurality of emergency information based on the plurality of position information received by the position information receiving means from the plurality of emergency vehicle communication devices. Emergency vehicle information generating means for generating emergency vehicle information relating to the position of the vehicle, dispatch location determining means for determining the dispatch location of the emergency vehicle, emergency vehicle information generated by the emergency vehicle information generating means, and dispatch location determining means An emergency vehicle position information storage device for storing dispatch vehicle determination information transmitting means for transmitting information relating to the dispatched place determined by the vehicle, and storing position information of a plurality of emergency vehicles;
Non-emergency vehicle position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of non-emergency vehicles other than the emergency vehicle, traffic condition determination means for determining the traffic condition of the road based on the position information acquired by the non-emergency vehicle position information acquisition means, Dispatch vehicle determination information receiving means for receiving the emergency vehicle information transmitted by the dispatch vehicle determination information transmitting means of the emergency vehicle position information storage device and information related to the dispatch location, the traffic situation determined by the traffic situation determination means, and the dispatch Based on the emergency vehicle information received by the vehicle determination information receiving means and the information on the dispatch location, the dispatch vehicle determination means for determining the emergency vehicle to be dispatched to the dispatch location, the emergency vehicle determined by the dispatch vehicle determination means is running Travel route determination means for determining a travel route to be performed, dispatch vehicle determined by the dispatch vehicle determination means, and travel route determined by the travel route determination means A traffic condition determination apparatus having the dispatching vehicle information transmitting means for transmitting such information,
Dispatch vehicle information receiving means for receiving information relating to the travel route transmitted by the dispatch vehicle information transmitting means of the traffic condition judging device, and installation on the road based on the information relating to the travel route received by the dispatch vehicle information receiving means A traffic signal control device having a traffic signal control means for controlling the operation of the traffic signal.
The emergency vehicle position information storage device is
Dispatch vehicle information receiving means for receiving information related to the dispatch vehicle and the travel route transmitted by the dispatch vehicle information transmitting means of the traffic condition judging device;
To the emergency vehicle communication apparatus dispatched vehicles the dispatching vehicle information receiving means receives, further possess a travel route information transmitting means for transmitting the information relating to traveling route to which the dispatching vehicle information receiving means receives,
The dispatch vehicle determining means determines the emergency vehicle that can reach the dispatch site from the current position of the emergency vehicle in the shortest time as the dispatch vehicle . A non-emergency vehicle communication device that is mounted on a non-emergency vehicle and communicates with the traffic situation determination device;
The traffic condition determination device includes avoidance information transmission means for transmitting information for avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle determined by the travel route determination means to the non-emergency vehicle communication device. Item 2. A traffic light control system according to item 1. The non-emergency vehicle communication device comprises:
Position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of the non-emergency vehicle;
Destination information acquisition means for acquiring destination information of the non-emergency vehicle;
Non-emergency vehicle information transmission means for transmitting the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means and the destination information acquired by the destination information acquisition means to the traffic situation determination device,
The traffic condition determination device avoids the travel route of the emergency vehicle determined by the travel route determination unit based on the position information and destination information transmitted by the non-emergency vehicle information transmission unit of the non-emergency vehicle communication device. An avoidance travel route determination means for determining a travel route of the emergency vehicle,
The avoidance information transmitting unit transmits the travel route for the non-emergency vehicle determined by the avoidance travel route determination unit to the communication device for the non-emergency vehicle. Traffic light control system. The traffic situation determination device includes an estimation unit that estimates an arrival time of an emergency vehicle with respect to a traffic signal provided in a travel route determined by the travel route determination unit,
The dispatch vehicle information transmission means of the traffic situation determination device is configured to transmit information related to the arrival time estimated by the estimation means,
The traffic light control means of the traffic light control device controls the operation of the traffic light based on information relating to the arrival time received by the dispatch vehicle information receiving means. The traffic signal control system according to any one of the above. The traffic signal control device has traffic signal status information transmitting means for transmitting information related to the control status of the traffic signal to the traffic situation determination device,
The traffic situation determination device
Traffic light state information receiving means for receiving the information transmitted by the traffic light state information transmitting means of the traffic light control device;
5. The traffic light status information transmitting means for transmitting the information received by the traffic signal status information receiving means to the emergency vehicle determined by the dispatch vehicle determining means. The traffic light control system described in 1. Emergency vehicle information generation means for acquiring emergency vehicle position information and generating emergency vehicle information related to the positions of a plurality of emergency vehicles;
Dispatch location determination means for determining the dispatch location of emergency vehicles,
Non-emergency vehicle position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of non-emergency vehicles other than the emergency vehicle;
Based on the position information acquired by the non-emergency vehicle position information acquisition means, traffic condition determination means for determining the traffic condition of the road;
Based on the traffic situation determined by the traffic condition determination means, the emergency vehicle information generated by the emergency vehicle information generation means, and the information on the dispatch place determined by the dispatch place determination means, the emergency vehicle to be dispatched to the dispatch place is determined. A dispatch vehicle determination means to determine;
Travel route determination means for determining a travel route on which the emergency vehicle determined by the dispatch vehicle determination means should travel;
Traffic light control means for controlling the operation of the traffic light installed on the road based on information relating to the travel route determined by the travel route determination means;
Travel route information transmitting means for transmitting information related to the travel route determined by the travel route determination means to the dispatch vehicle determined by the dispatch vehicle determination means ;
The dispatch vehicle determining means determines the emergency vehicle that can reach the dispatch site from the current position of the emergency vehicle in the shortest time as the dispatch vehicle .

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