JP6011333B2 - Transmission device, transmission system, and transmission control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transmission device, a transmission system, and a transmission control method.

  Ambient technology that realizes a safe, secure, and comfortable living environment by attracting a large number of electronic devices to the environment is drawing attention. At the point of contact between humans and information and communication technologies (ICT), transmission technologies that allow information and power to be freely exchanged without human beings are desired. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, it is ideal that data transmission and power transmission be performed freely in various scenes such as energy, transportation, urban space, medical / nursing care, education, office / home.

  Smart grids and clouds are useful for realizing such ambient transmission. A smart grid (next-generation power grid) is a power grid that can control and optimize the flow of power from both the supply side and the demand side. Cloud technology is a technology for processing large volumes of data without making the user aware of the location of data on the Internet. In cloud technology, power management when processing large volumes of data in a large-scale data center is important.

  In the area A constituting the smart grid and the cloud, data and power are mainly transmitted by wire. In the region B connecting each site and the smart grid / cloud, data and power transmission (ambient transmission) may be wireless or wired.

  When performing short-distance data communication between a portable electronic device and a vehicle, a method of wirelessly feeding power while adjusting power consumption characteristics from the vehicle adapter of the console to the portable electronic device is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). ). In addition, a technique has been proposed in which a control unit is integrally connected to a portable terminal, and the portable terminal is charged from the in-vehicle charger via the control unit (for example, see Patent Document 2). In the latter technique, the control unit switches between the in-vehicle set mode and the portable mode depending on whether or not the portable terminal is connected to the in-vehicle charger. The control unit acquires vehicle information by the short-range wireless communication function, and when an abnormality is detected, an e-mail is delivered from the portable terminal to a predetermined partner through a public telephone line.

  Also, a method is known in which a navigation system has a GPS reception function and a short-range wireless communication function, and acquires information from a content stand outside the vehicle and transmits / receives data at a short distance while the vehicle is running (for example, a patent) Reference 3).

Patent No. 4695137 (WO2005 / 122686) JP 2003-309630 A JP 2001-245341 A

  Since a long-distance wireless communication function such as a 3G line requires a maintenance cost, it is generally not installed in a vehicle except for a luxury car. A mobile terminal such as a smartphone is used to transmit / receive data such as vehicle management information to / from the outside in an electric vehicle without a long-distance wireless communication function. When the mobile terminal is in the vehicle together with the user, data can be transmitted and received at a short distance between the transmitter provided in the electric vehicle and the mobile terminal, and the data can be transmitted outside the vehicle via the mobile terminal. However, when the mobile terminal is taken out of the electric vehicle transmitter, the user cannot use the information collected and held in the transmitter from the mobile terminal. Or there exists a subject that information cannot be transmitted to the transmitter of an electric vehicle from a mobile terminal.

  Therefore, it is an object to enable transmission / reception of information between a mobile terminal and a transmitter regardless of whether or not the user's mobile terminal is within a short-range wireless communication range.

In one aspect of the invention, the transmission device is
A power supply for charging the mobile terminal;
A short-range wireless communication unit that transmits and receives information to and from the mobile terminal at a short distance;
When the mobile terminal is out of the range of short-range wireless communication, search for a communication station capable of short-range communication within the range of the short-range wireless communication, and when the communication station is detected, A switching control unit that switches the short-range communication between the communication stations to short-range communication with the communication station,
The short-range wireless communication unit transmits and receives information to and from the mobile terminal via the communication station and a server on the cloud or a network when the mobile terminal is outside the range of the short-range wireless communication. I do.

  Even in an environment without a long-distance wireless communication function, information can be transmitted and received between the mobile terminal and the transmitter regardless of whether or not the user's mobile terminal is within the range of short-range wireless communication. .

It is the schematic for demonstrating the ambient technique to which the transmission system of embodiment is applicable. It is a figure which shows the flow of the electric power and information in an electric vehicle when a mobile terminal is in a vehicle (during driving | running | working) in the transmission system of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the flow of the electric power and information in an electric vehicle when a mobile terminal is taken out of the vehicle (when parked, when returning home, etc.) in the transmission system of the embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram of the transmission system of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the example of near field communication switching control which a transmission device performs.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment, a transmission device, a transmission system, and a transmission control method applied to information and power transmission in an electric vehicle will be described as an example of ambient transmission.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the electric power and information flow of the electric vehicle 10 when the user's mobile terminal 30 is inside the electric vehicle 10. The mobile terminal 30 is, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet PC, or the like. The case where the mobile terminal 30 is inside the electric vehicle 10 is a case where the user is traveling on the electric vehicle 10, for example.

  The electric vehicle 10 includes a user interface 11, various components 12a, 12b, and 12c, a battery unit 13, a power receiving device 14, and an ambient transmission device 20. The user interface 11 is a display device, a speaker, or the like, and may include a touch panel. The ambient transmission device 20 may be detachably attached or may be previously incorporated in the electric vehicle 10. The ambient transmission device 20 is arranged in the vicinity of the instrument panel of the electric vehicle 10, for example.

  The ambient transmission device 20 has an information collection processing function, a power feeding function, and a short-range wireless communication function. The short-range wireless communication function is, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark). The ambient transmission device 20 includes a near field communication switching control unit 26. The switching control unit 26 performs short-range communication with the mobile terminal 30 when the mobile terminal 30 is within the range of short-range wireless communication, and is nearest to when the mobile terminal 30 is outside the range of short-range wireless communication. Switch to short-range communication with a communication station (see FIG. 3). Details of this operation will be described later.

  The power receiving device 14 is supplied with electric power from power supply devices 60-1 to 60-n (referred to as “power supply device 60” as appropriate) of an arbitrary charging station. Power feeding from the power feeding device 60 to the power receiving device 14 may be power feeding using a charging cable, or wireless power feeding. In the case of wireless power feeding, for example, power is supplied to the power receiving device 14 of the electric vehicle 10 by means of electromagnetic induction, magnetic field resonance, or the like from a power feeding device 60 that is grounded to the ground or floor of a charging stand. The power receiving device 14 is disposed on the bottom surface of the electric vehicle 10, for example. In the case of power supply using microwaves, the charging device 60 is disposed on the ceiling, support, etc. of the charging stand, and the power receiving device 14 is disposed on the upper surface, side surface, etc. of the electric vehicle 10.

  The power receiving device 14 converts AC power supplied from the power feeding device 60 into DC and supplies it to the battery unit 13. The electric power stored in the battery unit 13 is supplied to the ambient transmission device 20, the display device 11, the components 12a to 12c, and the like. Each component 12a to 12c has an RFID tag / antenna, and may be supplied with power from the battery unit 13 wirelessly or may be charged by wire. Power is supplied from the battery unit 13 to the ambient transmission device 20 and the display device 11 by, for example, a wiring cable.

  The ambient transmission device 20 charges the mobile terminal 30 in a contact or non-contact manner. Power can be supplied from the ambient transmission device 20 to the mobile terminal 30 by placing the mobile terminal 30 on the ambient transmission device 20 or by inserting the mobile terminal 30 into a charging box integrated with the ambient transmission device 20. In the case of non-contact charging (wireless) charging, for example, an electrode or a coil is arranged inside the ambient transmission device 20 and electric power is supplied by an electric field coupling method, an electromagnetic induction method, a magnetic field resonance method, or the like.

  Regarding the flow of information, in the traveling electric vehicle 10, in addition to collecting information between the ambient transmission device 20 and the components 14a to 14c, the battery unit 13, the user interface 11, and other devices (not shown), 2 There is a type of wireless communication. The first wireless communication (inside the vehicle) between the ambient transmission device 20 and the mobile terminal 30 and the second wireless communication (outside the vehicle) between the mobile terminal 30 and the base station 40.

  In uplink transmission, the ambient transmission device 20 collects and holds various information such as the charging status, component operation, deterioration information, temperature, and position information from the display device 11, the components 12a to 12c, and the battery unit 13. . The collected information is transmitted from the ambient transmission device 20 to the mobile terminal 30 by the first wireless communication (short-range wireless communication). The mobile terminal 30 stores the collected information in the server / data center 50 on the cloud or network via the base station 40 by the second wireless communication (far-distance wireless communication). Further, the server / data center 50 is requested for content information desired by the user.

  In downlink transmission, the mobile terminal 20 receives service content, traffic information, maintenance information of the electric vehicle 10 and the like via the base station 40 by the second wireless communication. Information is supplied from the received information to the ambient transmission device 20 by the first wireless communication as necessary.

  Information collected inside the vehicle and part of information downloaded from outside the vehicle are output from the user interface 11 such as a display device or a speaker as necessary.

  As described above, when the mobile terminal 30 is in the electric vehicle 10, the ambient transmission device 20 supplies power to the mobile terminal 30 and moves information collected from various devices through the first wireless communication. Transmit to the terminal 30. The collected information can be sent out of the vehicle via the mobile terminal 30 by the second wireless communication.

  Next, an operation when the mobile terminal 30 is taken out of the electric vehicle 10 will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the flow of power and information when the mobile terminal 30 is outside the short-range wireless communication range of the ambient transmission device 20. When the mobile terminal 30 is outside the range of the electric vehicle 10, for example, when the user parks the electric vehicle 10 and goes to another place with the mobile terminal 30, or after returning home, the electric vehicle 10 is stored in the garage. For example, when you are indoors.

  When the ambient transmission device 10 detects a state in which the mobile terminal 30 cannot perform the first wireless communication (short-range wireless communication), the ambient transmission device 10 searches for the communication station 70 that exists in the communication area using the first wireless communication function. The communication range of the first wireless communication function is, for example, a range of several tens of meters. When the nearest communication station 70 is detected, the short-range communication switching control unit 26 switches the partner of the first wireless communication from the mobile terminal 30 to the communication station 70. As an example, the communication station 70 is installed in a parking lot, a garage, a street, or the like.

  The ambient transmission device 20 transmits information collected from vehicle equipment such as the battery unit 13, the components 12 a to 12 c, and the user interface 11 to the communication station 70 by short-range wireless communication. The communication station 70 transmits information to the server / data center 50 on the cloud or network via the base station 40b. Information regarding the electric vehicle 10 is stored in the server / data center 50 and updated.

  On the other hand, the user may want to refer to information related to the electric vehicle 10 from outside the vehicle, or may want to send information to the electric vehicle 10. For example, when the maintenance information of the electric vehicle 10 is to be confirmed, the mobile terminal 30 accesses the server / data center 50 via the base station 40a or the WiFi router 60 to obtain the latest data and power supply information of each device of the electric vehicle 10. get.

  When the user wants to send information to the electric vehicle 10, for example, when the user wants to input a destination in advance to the navigation system, or when he / she wants to set music on the in-vehicle audio, the mobile terminal 30 is connected via the base station 40 a or the WiFi router 60. Then, an input request and input information are transmitted to the server / data center 50. The server / data center 50 transmits information to the ambient transmission device 20 of the electric vehicle 10 via the base station 40 b and the communication station 70.

  Thus, even when the mobile terminal 30 is in a state where short-range wireless communication with the ambient transmission device 20 is not possible, information can be transmitted / received to / from the ambient transmission device 20 via the server / data center 50 and the communication station 70. .

  FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of the ambient transmission system 1 according to the embodiment. The ambient transmission system 1 includes an ambient transmission device 20, a mobile terminal 30, a communication station 70, and a server / data center 50.

  The ambient transmission device 20 includes a short-range wireless communication device 21, a short-range communication switching control unit 26, and a power feeding device 25, transmits power to the mobile terminal 30, and transmits information to and from the mobile terminal 30. Send and receive. The ambient transmission device 20 can also perform near field communication with the communication station 70 located within the range of near field communication. The near field communication switching control unit 26 switches near field communication between the mobile terminal 30 and the communication station 70. The timing of switching is based on the detection of a state in which short-distance communication with the mobile terminal 30 is not possible, and the switching is performed by determining whether or not there is a highly likely event that the mobile terminal 30 has been taken out of the vehicle. It is good as well.

  The power feeding device 25 includes a modulator, an amplifier 23, a voltmeter V, an ammeter A, capacitors C21 and C22, and coils L21 and L22. The capacitor C22 and the coil L22 constitute a power supply side resonance circuit.

  The mobile terminal 30 includes a first wireless communication device (short-range wireless communication device) 31, a second wireless communication device 32, a power receiving device 35, and a battery 36. The power receiving device 35 receives power supplied from the power feeding device 25 of the ambient transmission device 20 and charges the battery 36. The power receiving device 35 includes capacitors C31 and C32 and coils L31 and L32. The power receiving side resonance circuit is configured by the capacitor C32 and the coil L32. When the resonance frequency of the power supply side resonance circuit and the power reception side resonance circuit are the same, magnetic field resonance occurs and power is transmitted. The AC power supplied to the power receiving device 35 is converted to DC power by the rectifier 33 and supplied to the battery 36. In this example, wireless charging is used. However, charging from the ambient transmission device 20 to the mobile terminal 30 is not limited to wireless charging, and charging may be performed by a contact method using a charging cable or a charging socket / plug.

  The first wireless communication device 31 of the mobile terminal 30 performs short-range communication with the short-range wireless communication device 21 of the ambient transmission device 20. The second wireless communication device 31 performs wireless communication with the server / data center 50 via the base station 40a.

  The communication station includes a first wireless communication device (short-range wireless communication device) 71 and a second wireless communication device 72. The first wireless communication device 71 performs short-range communication with the short-range wireless communication device 21 of the ambient transmission device 20. The second wireless communication device 72 performs wired or wireless communication with the server / data center 50 via the base station 40b.

  Although the ambient transmission device 20 itself has only a short-range wireless communication function, even when the mobile terminal 3 moves out of the range of the ambient transmission device 20 by switching short-range communication between the mobile terminal 30 and the communication station 70. Information can be transmitted and received between the mobile terminal 3 via the communication station 70 and the server / data center 50.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the near field communication switching control performed by the ambient transmission device 20. First, the switching control unit 26 determines whether or not communication with the mobile terminal 30 is turned off (S101). S101 is repeated until communication OFF with the mobile terminal 30 is detected.

  When the short-range communication with the mobile terminal 30 is turned off, it is determined whether the opening / closing of the vehicle door is detected (S102). If opening / closing of the door is not detected (NO in S102), the connection to the mobile terminal is retried (S105), and the retry is repeated until reconnected (S106). When the connection is reestablished, the process returns to S101 and the connection state with the mobile terminal 30 is monitored.

  When opening / closing of the door is detected (YES in S102), it is determined whether or not the interior of the vehicle is unattended (S103). This determination is made from the state of the seat sensor, door lock sensor, starter, and the like.

  If it is determined that it is not unattended (NO in S103), connection retry is performed until the mobile terminal is reconnected (S105, S106). If it is determined that it is unattended (YES in S103), a nearby communication station is searched. When a communication station is detected (YES in S104), the short-range communication switching control unit 26 establishes short-range wireless communication with the detected communication station (S107). Even after the near field communication is switched to the communication station, the door open / closed state is continuously monitored (S108). When opening / closing of the door is detected (YES in S108), it is determined whether or not the interior of the vehicle is in a manned state based on the output of the seat sensor or the like (S109). If it is in a manned state (YES in S109), it is determined whether or not the mobile terminal 30 has been detected (S110). The mobile terminal 30 is detected based on whether the short-range wireless communication device 21 has received a connection request from the mobile terminal 30 or the presence of the mobile terminal 30 in a charging box (not shown) of the ambient transmission device 20. It can be judged by whether or not.

  When the mobile terminal is detected (YES in S110), the short-range communication switching control unit 26 disconnects the short-range wireless communication with the communication station 70 (S111), establishes a connection with the mobile terminal 30, Return to S101. The ambient transmission device 20 can detect the state of the battery 36 of the mobile terminal 30 by transmitting and receiving information to and from the mobile terminal 30. When the remaining amount of the battery 36 of the mobile terminal 30 is insufficient, the charging device 25 charges the charging device 35 in contact or non-contact. At the same time, the user interface 11 may display an image or voice notification of unforeseen charging. Further, the charging status may be continuously displayed on the screen.

  The mobile terminal 30 directly transmits and receives information to and from the ambient transmission device 20 using the first wireless communication (short-range wireless communication) function. When the second wireless communication function is used, the mobile terminal 30 communicates with the server / data center 50 and the communication station. The ambient transmission device 20 can be accessed via 70. Between the mobile terminal 30 and the communication station 70, neither the first wireless communication (short-range wireless communication) nor the second communication (far-distance wireless communication) is performed. When the mobile terminal 30 is outside the range of the ambient transmission device 20, it is possible to increase the security of the system by making the ambient transmission device 20 accessible through the server / data center 50.

  Thus, according to the ambient transmission system 1 of the embodiment, power sharing and information communication can be performed uniformly regardless of whether the user is inside the electric vehicle 10 or not. Both users and service providers benefit from convenience, safety and service efficiency.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ambient transmission system 10 Electric vehicle 11 User interface 12a-12c Component 13 Battery unit 14 Power receiving device 20 Ambient transmission device 21 Short-range wireless communication device 25 Power supply apparatus 26 Short-range communication switching control part 30 Mobile terminal 31 1st wireless communication device ( Near field communication equipment)
32 Second wireless communication device 35 Power receiving device 70 Communication station 71 First wireless communication device (short-range wireless communication device)
72 Second wireless communication device

Claims (7)

A power supply for charging the mobile terminal;
A short-range wireless communication unit that transmits and receives information to and from the mobile terminal at a short distance;
When the mobile terminal is out of the range of short-range wireless communication, search for a communication station capable of short-range communication within the range of the short-range wireless communication, and when the communication station is detected, A switching control unit that switches the short-range communication between the communication stations to short-range communication with the communication station,
Have
The short-range wireless communication unit transmits and receives information to and from the mobile terminal via the communication station and a server on the cloud or network when the mobile terminal is out of the range of the short-range wireless communication. Characteristic transmission device.   The power supply unit supplies power to the mobile terminal in a contact or non-contact manner based on information on the charging status of the mobile terminal acquired by the short-range wireless communication unit. Transmission devices. The transmission device is mounted on an electric vehicle, and further includes an information processing unit that collects and processes information from in-vehicle devices of the electric vehicle,
The short-range wireless communication unit transmits the information collected from the in-vehicle device to the mobile terminal or the communication station according to a control state by the switching control unit.
The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission device is a device. A mobile terminal,
A transmission device that supplies power to the mobile terminal and is capable of near field communication;
A communication station installed in place,
A server on the cloud or network,
Including
The mobile terminal includes a first wireless communication unit that performs the short-range communication with the transmission device, and a second wireless communication unit that performs communication with the server via an arbitrary base station,
The communication station includes a third wireless communication unit that performs the short-range communication with the transmission device, and a fourth wireless communication unit that performs communication with the server via an arbitrary base station,
The transmission device searches for the communication station when the mobile terminal is out of range of the short-range communication, and when the communication station is detected, the partner of the short-range communication from the mobile terminal A switching control unit for switching to a communication station,
When the mobile terminal is outside the range of the transmission device, the transmission device transmits and receives information to and from the mobile terminal via the communication station and the server.   The said transmission device supplies electric power to the said mobile terminal by contact or non-contact based on the charging condition of the said mobile terminal acquired by transmission / reception of the information between the said mobile terminals. The transmission system described in 1. In a transmission device that can charge a mobile terminal,
Monitor the state of charge of the mobile terminal and the connection state of near field communication between the mobile terminal,
When a disconnection of the near field communication is detected, search for a communication station within the area of the near field communication,
When a communication station is detected, short-range communication with the mobile terminal is switched to short-range communication with the detected communication station, and the communication station and the server on the cloud or network Send and receive information to and from mobile terminals,
A transmission control method characterized by the above.   The short-range communication is switched to short-range communication with the mobile terminal when a connection with the mobile terminal is detected after switching to short-range communication with the communication station. Item 7. The transmission control method according to Item 6.

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