JP6447749B2 - Driving support information transmission system, receiver, driving support system, and driving support information transmission method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention, driving support information transmission system, reception apparatus that is used in the driving support information transmission system, a driving support system, and relates to a driving support information transmission method, in particular, to obtain the situation around the vehicle when driving support For technology.

  Recently, various technologies for driving support of vehicles have been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 describes obtaining the surrounding situation of the host vehicle for automatic driving processing. As a specific example of the surrounding situation, Patent Literature 1 describes the presence or position of a surrounding vehicle detected by an in-vehicle camera or a radar, current position and route information grasped by a GPS or a navigation system, an inter-vehicle communication or a road-to-vehicle communication, an external database, Lists various information obtained from surrounding vehicles.

JP 2015-44432 A

The present invention, driving support information transmission system between mobile conventionally to improve the accuracy and responsiveness of the driving support by transmitting useful information that is not transmitted, received that is used in the driving support information transmission system An object is to provide a machine, a driving support system, and a driving support information transmission method.

In order to achieve the above object, a driving assistance information transmission system according to one aspect of the present invention provides directivity in a plurality of directions from a first mobile body to a wireless signal indicating identification information and a traveling direction of the first mobile body. a transmitter for transmitting with, receiving the radio signal at the second movable body, wherein the identification information of the first mobile body represented by the received the radio signal and outputs said traveling direction, and further, wherein identifying the direction in which the first moving body exists by recognizing the transmission direction of radio signal the radio signal based on the direction of the directivity of the transmission of the receiver that outputs the direction identified And comprising .

According to this configuration, in the driving support device in the second moving body, the first movement is performed by searching for an object that matches the traveling direction represented by the wireless signal from a peripheral image acquired by an in-vehicle stereo camera or a radar. The processing amount for recognizing the body can be reduced and the recognition accuracy can be increased. As a result, the accuracy and responsiveness of driving assistance can be improved compared to the case where the first moving body is recognized only from the surrounding image.
Further, it is possible to specify the direction in which the first moving body exists based on the directivity direction when the wireless signal is transmitted, that is, the transmission direction of the wireless signal. The transmission direction of the radio signal may be represented by, for example, a part of the radio signal, or may be determined in advance between the moving bodies based on synchronization with a separate positioning signal.

  In addition, operation information such as acceleration / deceleration and steering of the vehicle indicated by the identification information may be acquired using inter-vehicle communication, and the operation information may be associated with an object in the peripheral image. This makes it possible to provide driving assistance such as accurate warning, braking assistance, and steering assistance by predicting the behavior of the first moving body using the operation information.

Further , the driving support device searches the surrounding image for an object that matches the traveling direction represented by the wireless signal, thereby reducing the processing amount for recognizing the first moving body and increasing the recognition accuracy. be able to. As a result, it is possible to further improve the accuracy and responsiveness of driving support compared to the case where the first moving body is recognized only from the surrounding image.

  Further, the transmitter may transmit the radio signal to the rear of the first moving body.

  According to this configuration, since it is a preceding vehicle that particularly wants to know the vehicle behavior accurately, it is possible to reduce waste of energy required for transmitting the radio signal. In addition, multipath and information noise caused by a radio signal transmitted forward and reaching the rear vehicle can be reduced.

  The transmitter may transmit one data frame of the radio signal with a certain directivity.

  According to this configuration, information transmission can be performed stably.

In addition, a driving assistance information transmission system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a transmitter that transmits a wireless signal that represents identification information and a traveling direction of the first moving body from a first moving body, and the second moving body includes the transmitter. A radio signal is received from a plurality of directions with directivity, and the identification information and the traveling direction of the first moving body represented by the received radio signal are output. Further, when the radio signal is received A receiver that identifies the direction in which the first moving body is present by recognizing the reception direction of the wireless signal based on the direction of the directivity of and outputs the specified direction .

  According to this configuration, it is possible to specify the direction in which the first mobile body exists based on the reception direction of the radio signal when the radio signal can be received by the second mobile body.

  Further, the transmitter may transmit the radio signal to the rear of the first moving body.

  According to this configuration, since it is a preceding vehicle that particularly wants to know the vehicle behavior accurately, it is possible to reduce waste of energy required for transmitting the radio signal. In addition, multipath and information noise caused by a radio signal transmitted forward and reaching the rear vehicle can be reduced.

  Moreover, you may further provide the return machine which returns the radio signal which shows having acquired the said identification information and the said advancing direction from the said 2nd moving body to the said 1st moving body.

  According to this configuration, the first moving body can trust the operation of the second moving body by returning the radio signal. For example, when the first moving body lowers the proximity alarm threshold for the second moving body, the second moving body follows the first moving body and travels in a row, thereby improving fuel efficiency.

  In addition, the transmitter may further transmit a radio signal representing an appearance feature of the first moving body.

  According to this configuration, for example, it is easy to recognize the first moving body in the peripheral image acquired by the in-vehicle stereo camera of the second moving body from the appearance characteristics of the first moving body such as shape and color. Therefore, the reliability of driving support is increased.

  The transmitter may transmit the radio signal at a randomized period.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to alleviate information transmission failure due to the overlap of wireless signals between adjacent vehicles.

  The transmitter may transmit the radio signal subjected to amplitude shift keying.

  According to this configuration, it is not necessary to take frequency synchronization, and it is only necessary to confirm a change in signal strength within a certain frequency band. Therefore, for example, even when a radar wave that often uses frequency modulation or frequency shift modulation and a used frequency band overlap, information can be transmitted.

  The transmitter may transmit the radio signal using a millimeter wave band.

  According to this configuration, directivity control of the radio signal is easy, propagation of the radio signal to a distant place due to multipath is less likely to occur, and when there are a plurality of vehicles in the same direction, The radio signal is blocked by the vehicle in front. Due to such characteristics, information from nearby vehicles is reliably transmitted by the radio signal.

The present invention is not only realized as the driving support information transmission system, but also used in the driving support information transmission system, receives a radio signal in the second mobile body, and is represented by the received radio signal. Output the identification information and the traveling direction of the first mobile body, and further, based on the directivity direction at the time of transmission of the radio signal or the directivity direction at the time of reception of the radio signal. It may be realized as a receiver that identifies a direction in which the first moving body exists by recognizing a transmission direction or a reception direction of a signal and outputs the identified direction. Further, it may be realized as a driving support device that performs driving support in the second moving body based on the identification information and the traveling direction of the first moving body output from the driving support information transmission system, It may be realized as a driving support information transmission method executed in the driving support information transmission system.

According to the driving support information transmission system, the receiver used in the driving support information transmission system, the driving support system, and the driving support information transmission method according to the present invention, the radio transmitted or received with directivity in a plurality of directions. using the signal, at the sending radio signals, receiving the radio signal in the second moving member, received the radio signal from the first moving body representing the traveling direction and the identification information of the first mobile body The identification information and the traveling direction of the first moving body represented are output, and further, based on the directionality of the radio signal at the time of transmission or the directionality of the radio signal at the time of reception. The direction in which the first moving body exists is identified by recognizing the transmission direction or the reception direction of the radio signal, and the identified direction is output. As a result, the first moving body is recognized by searching for an object that matches the traveling direction represented by the wireless signal from the peripheral image acquired by the in-vehicle stereo camera or the radar in the driving support device in the second moving body. The amount of processing for doing so can be reduced and the recognition accuracy can be increased. As a result, the accuracy and responsiveness of driving assistance can be improved compared to the case where the first moving body is recognized only from the surrounding image.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the driving support information transmission system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view and a plan view illustrating an example of the structure of the transmitter according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the transmitter according to the first embodiment. 4A and 4B are a side view and a plan view illustrating an example of the structure of the receiver according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the receiver according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data frame configuration according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the arrangement of moving objects applied to the driving assistance information transmission system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the driving support information transmission method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the driving support information transmission system according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a side view and a plan view illustrating an example of the structure of the transmitter according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the transmitter according to the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a side view and a plan view illustrating an example of the structure of the receiver according to the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a receiver according to the second embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data frame format according to the second embodiment. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of the arrangement of moving objects applied to the driving assistance information transmission system according to the second embodiment. FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the driving support information transmission method according to the second embodiment. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of the arrangement of moving objects applied to the driving assistance information transmission system according to the third embodiment. FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the driving support information transmission method according to the third embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that each of the embodiments described below shows a comprehensive or specific example. Numerical values, shapes, materials, components, arrangement and connection forms of components, steps, order of steps, and the like shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Among the constituent elements in the following embodiments, constituent elements not described in the independent claims are described as optional constituent elements. In addition, the size or ratio of components shown in the drawings is not necessarily strict.

(Embodiment 1)
The driving support information transmission system according to Embodiment 1 includes a transmitter that transmits a radio signal indicating identification information and a traveling direction of the first mobile body from the first mobile body, and the radio signal is transmitted to the second mobile body. A receiver that receives and outputs the identification information and the traveling direction of the first moving body represented by the received wireless signal.

  In the first embodiment, the first moving body and the second moving body are referred to as a preceding vehicle and the own vehicle, respectively, and the preceding vehicle is represented by a radio signal transmitted from the preceding vehicle and received by the own vehicle. Based on the identification information and the traveling direction, the situation in which driving assistance is performed in the own vehicle will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the driving support information transmission system according to the first embodiment. A preceding vehicle 100 that is a first moving body includes a transmitter 110, a receiver 120, and a driving support device 130. The own vehicle 200 that is the second moving body includes a transmitter 210, a receiver 220, and a driving support device 230.

  In the first embodiment, the transmitter 110 and the receiver 220 constitute the driving assistance information transmission system 10, and the driving assistance information transmission system 10 and the driving assistance device 230 constitute the driving assistance system 11.

  The transmitter 110 transmits the radio signal with directivity in a plurality of directions, and the receiver 220 identifies the direction in which the preceding vehicle 100 exists by recognizing the transmission direction of the radio signal. The receiver 220 outputs the identification information of the preceding vehicle 100 represented by the received wireless signal, the traveling direction, and the presence direction of the identified preceding vehicle 100 to the driving support device 230.

  The transmitter 110 and the receiver 220 will be described in more detail.

  2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating an example of the structure of the transmitter 110, where FIG. 2A is a side view and FIG. 2B is a plan view. The transmitter 110 is a phased array transmitter in which directivity can be variably controlled. As shown in FIG. 2, a passive device such as an IC (integrated circuit) 112 and a noise filter is formed on a substrate 111 on which an antenna 115 is formed. An element 116 is mounted.

  The antenna 115 includes eight groups of antenna elements 115a. The transmitter 110 is mounted on the preceding vehicle 100 such that the eight groups of antenna elements 115a are arranged in a substantially horizontal direction and the two-stage antenna elements 115a constituting each group are arranged in a substantially vertical direction. The transmitter 110 may be installed at the rear lower center of the preceding vehicle 100 (in many cases, where the license plate is installed).

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the transmitter 110.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the IC 112 includes a transmission signal generation unit 113 and a power amplifier 114. The transmission signal generation unit 113 includes a modulation circuit and a phase shift circuit, and may further include a microcomputer including a processor, a memory, a timer, a port, and the like (not shown).

  The transmission signal generation unit 113 generates a transmission signal that is modulated with an information signal and has a specific phase difference for each group in order to form a desired directivity. The information signal is represented by a data frame including identification information of the preceding vehicle 100, a traveling direction, and a transmission direction of a radio signal. The configuration of the data frame will be described in detail later.

  For example, the transmission signal generation unit 113 performs ASK (amplitude shift keying) on the high-frequency signal in the millimeter wave band such as the 60 GHz band by the information signal, further gives a phase difference for each group, and sends a transmission signal for each group Generate. The power amplifier 114 amplifies the transmission signal for each group and feeds power to the antenna elements 115a of the corresponding group.

  By feeding the transmission signals for each group to the upper and lower antenna elements 115a in the same phase, the directivity of the antenna 115 is narrowed in the vertical direction and is formed substantially in the horizontal plane. Further, by feeding a transmission signal having a phase difference for each group to each group of antenna elements 115a, the directivity of the antenna 115 is formed in a desired direction in a horizontal plane. As a result, the antenna 115 radiates a millimeter-wave radio signal 800 in a specific direction substantially in the horizontal plane in accordance with the transmission signal fed from the IC 112. In FIG. 3, the passive element 116 is omitted.

  The transmitter 110 may transmit a radio signal to the rear of the preceding vehicle 100, or may scan the transmission direction of the radio signal within a range of 180 degrees behind the preceding vehicle 100. The scanning in the transmission direction may be performed every 10 degrees, for example.

  4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating an example of the structure of the receiver 220, where FIG. 4A is a side view and FIG. 4B is a plan view. The receiver 220 is a receiver with fixed directivity, and is configured by mounting an IC 223 and a passive element 226 on a substrate 221 on which an antenna 222 is formed, as shown in FIG.

  The antenna 222 includes a group of antenna elements 222a. The receiver 220 is mounted on the host vehicle 200 in a direction in which the two-stage antenna elements 222a constituting the group are arranged in a substantially vertical direction. The receiver 220 may be installed adjacent to a main front monitoring device (an in-vehicle stereo camera or a radar) installed in the host vehicle 200.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the receiver 220.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the IC 223 includes a low noise amplifier 224 and a received signal processing unit 225. The reception signal processing unit 225 includes a demodulation circuit and may further include a microcomputer including a processor, a memory, a timer, a port, and the like (not shown). The receiver 220 may be connected to the driving support device 230 via a port of the microcomputer.

  When the upper and lower antenna elements 222a receive the radio signal 800 in the same phase, the directivity of the antenna 222 is narrowed in the vertical direction and is formed substantially in a horizontal plane. The low noise amplifier 224 amplifies the reception signal from the antenna 222 and supplies the amplified signal to the reception signal processing unit 225.

  The reception signal processing unit 225 demodulates the information signal from the reception signal, and supplies the identification information, the traveling direction, and the existence direction of the preceding vehicle 100 represented by the information signal to the driving support device 230. In FIG. 5, the passive element 226 is omitted.

  About the matter which is not prescribed | regulated above about the transmitter 110 and the receiver 220, you may follow the radio wave industry association standard ARIB STD-T48 "specific low power radio station millimeter wave radar radio equipment", for example.

  Next, the configuration of a data frame transmitted with radio signal 800 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a data frame.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the data frame includes a preamble 801, a packet length 802, identification information 803, a traveling direction 804, a transmission direction 805, and additional information 806.

  The preamble 801 is a specific bit pattern indicating the start of a data frame.

  The packet length 802 is a numerical value indicating the length of the data frame.

  The identification information 803 is information for identifying the preceding vehicle 100. Specifically, the identification information 803 may be an automobile registration number (so-called plate number) of the preceding vehicle 100, or may be a MAC address used by the preceding vehicle 100 for inter-vehicle communication or road-to-vehicle communication.

  The traveling direction 804 is information indicating the traveling direction of the preceding vehicle 100. Specifically, the traveling direction 804 may be an angle value representing a direction in which the front of the preceding vehicle 100 is facing, with magnetic north as 0 and clockwise as positive.

  The transmission direction 805 is information indicating the directivity direction formed when the radio signal 800 is transmitted, that is, the transmission direction of the radio signal 800. Specifically, the transmission direction 805 may be an angle value that represents the traveling direction of the preceding vehicle 100 as 0 and clockwise as positive, or may be an angle value that represents magnetic north as 0 and clockwise as positive. Good. The transmission direction 805 can be omitted as will be described later.

  The additional information 806 is information that is not essential other than the above, and may be, for example, appearance information representing appearance features such as the shape and color of the preceding vehicle 100.

  Next, operation | movement of the driving assistance system 11 containing the driving assistance information transmission system 10 comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of moving bodies applied to the driving support information transmission system 10, and generalizes the arrangement of the preceding vehicle 100 and the host vehicle 200.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the traveling direction 101 of the preceding vehicle 100 is represented by an angle value x in which magnetic north is 0 and clockwise is positive, and the traveling direction 201 of the host vehicle 200 is represented by a similar angle value y. . The transmission direction of the radio signal 800 is represented by an angle value a where the traveling direction 101 of the preceding vehicle 100 is 0 and the clockwise direction is positive. If receiver 220 is present in the direction in which transmitter 110 transmits radio signal 800, receiver 220 receives radio signal 800. When the receiver 220 receives the radio signal 800, the direction in which the preceding vehicle 100 is seen from the own vehicle 200 is expressed as an angle value b where the traveling direction 201 of the own vehicle 200 is 0 and the clockwise direction is positive. = A + 180 + xy The relational expression is established.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a driving support information transmission method executed in the driving support system 11 including the driving support information transmission system 10.

  As shown in FIG. 8, in the preceding vehicle 100, the transmitter 110 sets the transmission direction of the radio signal 800 (S110). For example, in order to radiate the radio signal 800 in the clockwise order behind the preceding vehicle 100, the angle value a increasing in increments of 10 from 90 to 270 may be set in order as the transmission direction. However, the range, step size, and order in the transmission direction are not limited to this example. The transmission direction may be set by a microcomputer provided in the transmitter 110. The step size in the transmission direction may be narrower than the half value width of the transmission directivity.

  The transmitter 110 forms a data frame including the identification information of the preceding vehicle 100, the traveling direction, and the transmission direction of the radio signal 800 as shown in FIG. 6 (S120). The identification information may be a value written in the transmitter 110 at the time of installation setting, or may be obtained each time from an electronic control unit (not shown) of the preceding vehicle 100 or the like. The traveling direction may be obtained by providing a direction sensor (not shown) in the transmitter 110 and may be obtained from the direction sensor or may be obtained from the navigation device of the preceding vehicle 100 each time. The transmission direction is not limited to the angle value a where the traveling direction of the preceding vehicle 100 is 0, but may be an angle value (a + x) where the magnetic north is 0.

  The transmitter 110 transmits a radio signal 800 representing the data frame by forming directivity in the set direction (S130).

  The above process is repeated until the driving of the preceding vehicle 100 is completed (S140).

  On the other hand, in the own vehicle 200, when the receiver 220 receives the radio signal 800 (S220), the receiver 220 specifies the direction in which the preceding vehicle 100 is present using the traveling direction and the transmission direction in the data frame transmitted by the radio signal 800. (S240). The angle value b representing the direction in which the preceding vehicle 100 exists may be specified according to the relational expression described with reference to FIG. The relational expression can be applied to the case where the transmission direction of the radio signal is represented by either the angle value a or the angle value (a + x).

  Note that the transmission direction of the radio signal 800 may be determined in advance between moving bodies based on synchronization with a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal or the like. Specifically, the correspondence information between the time indicated by the GPS signal and the transmission direction of the radio signal 800 may be shared between moving bodies, or the change point of the time indicated by the GPS signal is used as a trigger for starting scanning in the transmission direction. Also good. In this case, the preceding vehicle 100 radiates the radio signal 800 in the direction indicated by the corresponding information, so that the own vehicle 200 starts from the time indicated by the GPS signal or the time change point when the radio signal 800 is received. From this elapsed time, the transmission direction of the radio signal 800 can be known. Thereby, it is not necessary to send the transmission direction with the radio signal 800, and the transmission direction 805 can be omitted from the data frame of FIG.

  The receiver 220 notifies the driving support device 230 of the identification information, the traveling direction, and the existing direction of the preceding vehicle 100 (S250), and the driving support device 230 identifies the identification information, the traveling direction, and the existing direction of the preceding vehicle 100. The driving assistance using is performed (S260).

  The above-described process is repeated until the driving of the vehicle 200 is completed (S270).

  Specifically, the driving support in step S260 may be the following processing.

  The driving support device 230 recognizes an object that matches the notified existence direction and traveling direction as the preceding vehicle 100 in the peripheral image acquired by the in-vehicle stereo camera or the radar (S261). Thereby, the processing amount for recognizing the preceding vehicle 100 can be reduced, and recognition accuracy can be improved. As a result, the accuracy and responsiveness of driving assistance can be improved compared to the case where the preceding vehicle 100 is recognized only from the surrounding image.

  The driving support device 230 associates the operation information such as acceleration / deceleration and steering of the vehicle acquired by inter-vehicle communication and road-to-vehicle communication with the preceding vehicle 100 recognized in the peripheral image based on the identification information (S262), Driving support processing such as warning and braking assistance based on behavior prediction of the preceding vehicle 100 using operation information is performed (S263).

  Specifically, the driving support device 230 determines the preceding vehicle from the position of the preceding vehicle 100 recognized from the surrounding image in step S261 and the contents of the acceleration / deceleration, steering, etc. of the vehicle indicated by the operation information associated in step S262. Predict 100 near future positions with high accuracy. As a result, accurate and early warning and braking assistance can be performed according to the predicted risk of contact.

  As described above, according to the driving assistance information transmission system 10, the preceding vehicle 100 transmits the identification information of the preceding vehicle 100 and the radio signal 800 indicating the traveling direction while scanning the directivity, and is wirelessly transmitted by the own vehicle 200. By recognizing the transmission direction of the signal 800, the presence direction of the preceding vehicle 100 can be specified.

  And the accuracy and responsiveness of driving assistance improve by combining the identification information, the advancing direction, and the presence direction of the preceding vehicle 100 with the surrounding image and operation information in the driving assistance system 11.

  Below, it supplements about the structure of the detail of the driving assistance information transmission system 10, and an additional effect.

  In the driving support information transmission system 10, by using the MAC address in the vehicle-to-vehicle communication and the road-to-vehicle communication device as the identification information, it is possible to save computational resources in the later verification work. Moreover, since the traveling direction of the preceding vehicle 100 and the host vehicle 200 is represented by a magnetic needle azimuth angle in which the magnetic north is 0 and the clockwise direction is positive, for example, it is common with the representation of the azimuth used in the navigation device. By unifying various operations, computational resources can be saved.

  Further, the transmitter 110 may transmit the radio signal 800 to the rear of the preceding vehicle 100.

  According to this configuration, since it is the preceding vehicle that particularly wants to know the vehicle behavior accurately, it is possible to reduce the waste of energy required for transmitting the radio signal 800. In addition, multipath and information noise caused by the radio signal 800 transmitted forward and reflected and reaching the rear vehicle can be reduced.

  Further, the transmitter 110 may transmit the radio signal 800 to a range of 180 degrees behind the preceding vehicle 100.

  According to this configuration, compared with the case where the radio signal 800 is radiated in all directions, the amount of information that can be transmitted at the same scan angular velocity and the same information rate is doubled, so that quick identification can be performed. In addition, information can be widely delivered to a moving body existing behind the preceding vehicle 100. In addition, multipath and information noise due to reflection of the forward radiation and reaching the rear vehicle can be reduced.

  In addition, the host vehicle 200 may include a return device that returns a radio signal indicating that the identification information and the traveling direction of the preceding vehicle 100 have been acquired. Inter-vehicle communication may be used for this reply machine.

  According to this configuration, the preceding vehicle 100 can trust the operation of the host vehicle 200 by returning the wireless signal. For example, when the preceding vehicle 100 lowers the proximity alarm threshold for the own vehicle 200, the own vehicle 200 can follow the preceding vehicle 100 and travel in a platoon to improve fuel efficiency.

  Further, the transmitter 110 may further transmit a radio signal 800 representing the appearance characteristics of the preceding vehicle 100.

  According to this configuration, for example, it is easy to recognize the preceding vehicle 100 in the peripheral image acquired by the in-vehicle stereo camera of the own vehicle 200 from the appearance characteristics of the preceding vehicle 100 such as the shape and the color. Increased reliability.

  Further, the transmitter 110 may transmit the radio signal 800 at a randomized period.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to alleviate information transmission failure due to the overlap of wireless signals between adjacent vehicles.

  Further, the transmitter 110 may transmit a radio signal 800 subjected to amplitude shift keying.

  According to this configuration, it is not necessary to take frequency synchronization, and it is only necessary to confirm a change in signal strength within a certain frequency band. Therefore, for example, even when a radar wave that often uses frequency modulation or frequency shift modulation and a used frequency band overlap, information can be transmitted.

  Further, the transmitter 110 may transmit the radio signal 800 using the millimeter wave band.

  According to this configuration, the directivity control of the radio signal 800 is easy, the radio signal 800 is unlikely to propagate far away due to multipath, and when there are a plurality of vehicles in the same direction, The radio signal is blocked by the vehicle in front. Due to such characteristics, information from nearby vehicles is reliably transmitted by the radio signal 800.

  Further, the transmitter 110 may transmit one data frame of the radio signal 800 with a certain directivity.

  According to this configuration, information transmission can be performed stably.

(Embodiment 2)
The driving support information transmission system according to the second embodiment transmits a wireless signal with a fixed directivity and receives a variable-controlled directivity as compared with the driving support information transmission system according to the first embodiment. Is different. Hereinafter, description of matters common to the first embodiment will be omitted as appropriate, and characteristic features of the second embodiment will be mainly described.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the driving support information transmission system according to the second embodiment. A preceding vehicle 300 that is the first moving body includes a transmitter 310, a receiver 320, and a driving support device 330. The own vehicle 400 as the second moving body includes a transmitter 410, a receiver 420, and a driving support device 430.

  In the second embodiment, the transmitter 310 and the receiver 420 constitute the driving assistance information transmission system 20, and the driving assistance information transmission system 20 and the driving assistance device 430 constitute the driving assistance system 21.

  The transmitter 310 transmits the radio signal to the rear of the preceding vehicle 300, and the receiver 420 receives the radio signal with directivity from a plurality of directions and recognizes the reception direction of the radio signal. The direction in which the car 300 exists is specified. The receiver 420 outputs the identification information of the preceding vehicle 300 represented by the received wireless signal, the traveling direction, and the existing direction of the identified preceding vehicle 300 to the driving support device 430.

  The transmitter 310 and the receiver 420 will be described in more detail.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of the transmitter 310, where (a) is a side view and (b) is a plan view. The transmitter 310 is a transmitter with fixed directivity, and is configured by mounting an IC 312 and a passive element 316 on a substrate 311 on which an antenna 315 is formed, as shown in FIG.

  The antenna 315 includes a group of antenna elements 315a. The transmitter 310 is mounted on the preceding vehicle 300 in such a direction that the two-stage antenna elements 315a constituting the group are arranged in a substantially vertical direction. The transmitter 310 may be installed at the rear lower center of the preceding vehicle 300 (in many cases, where the license plate is installed).

  FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the transmitter 310.

  As illustrated in FIG. 11, the IC 312 includes a transmission signal generation unit 313 and a power amplifier 314. The transmission signal generation unit 313 includes a modulation circuit and a phase shift circuit, and may further include a microcomputer including a processor, a memory, a timer, a port, and the like (not shown).

  The transmission signal generation unit 313 generates a transmission signal modulated with the information signal. The information signal is represented by a data frame including identification information of the preceding vehicle 300 and the traveling direction. The configuration of the data frame will be described in detail later.

  For example, the transmission signal generation unit 313 performs ASK (amplitude shift keying) using the information signal on a high-frequency signal in a millimeter wave band such as a 60 GHz band to generate a transmission signal. The power amplifier 314 amplifies the transmission signal and supplies power to the antenna element 315a.

  By feeding the transmission signal to the upper and lower antenna elements 315a in the same phase, the directivity of the antenna 315 is narrowed in the vertical direction and is formed substantially in the horizontal plane. As a result, the antenna 315 radiates a millimeter-wave radio signal 800 in a specific direction substantially in the horizontal plane in accordance with the transmission signal fed from the IC 312. In FIG. 11, the passive element 316 is omitted.

  The transmitter 310 may transmit a radio signal behind the preceding vehicle 300.

  12A and 12B are diagrams illustrating an example of the structure of the receiver 420, where FIG. 12A is a side view and FIG. 12B is a plan view. The receiver 420 is a phased array receiver in which directivity can be variably controlled. As shown in FIG. 12, an IC (integrated circuit) 423 and a passive element 426 are mounted on a substrate 421 on which an antenna 422 is formed. Configured.

  The antenna 422 includes eight groups of antenna elements 422a. The receiver 420 is mounted on the host vehicle 400 such that the eight groups of antenna elements 422a are arranged in a substantially horizontal direction and the two-stage antenna elements 422a constituting each group are arranged in a substantially vertical direction. The receiver 420 may be installed adjacent to a main front monitoring device (an in-vehicle stereo camera or a radar) installed in the host vehicle 400.

  FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the receiver 420.

  As illustrated in FIG. 13, the IC 423 includes a low noise amplifier 424 and a received signal processing unit 425. The reception signal processing unit 425 includes a phase shift circuit, a summation circuit, and a demodulation circuit, and may further include a microcomputer including a processor, a memory, a timer, a port, and the like (not shown). The receiver 420 may be connected to the driving support device 430 via a port of the microcomputer.

  When the upper and lower antenna elements 422a of each group receive the radio signal 800 in the same phase, the directivity of the antenna 422 is narrowed in the vertical direction and is formed substantially in the horizontal plane. The low noise amplifier 224 amplifies the reception signal for each group from the antenna 422 and supplies the amplified signal to the reception signal processing unit 425.

  The reception signal processing unit 425 adds the phase difference for each group to the reception signals of each group, and then adds them, so that the directivity of the antenna 422 is formed in a desired direction in the horizontal plane. As a result, the combined received signal is only the radio signal 800 that arrives from a specific direction in a substantially horizontal plane.

  The received signal processing unit 425 demodulates the information signal from the combined received signal, the identification information of the preceding vehicle 300 represented by the information signal, the traveling direction, and the reception directivity setting when the information signal is received. The obtained presence direction of the preceding vehicle 300 is supplied to the driving support device 430. In FIG. 13, the passive element 426 is omitted.

  About the matter which is not prescribed | regulated above about the transmitter 110 and the receiver 220, you may follow the radio wave industry association standard ARIB STD-T48 "specific low power radio station millimeter wave radar radio equipment", for example.

  Next, the configuration of a data frame transmitted with radio signal 800 will be described.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a data frame. In the data frame shown in FIG. 14, the transmission direction 805 is deleted as compared with FIG. This is because the receiver 420 knows the direction in which the preceding vehicle 300 is present in the reception direction of the radio signal 800 and thus does not need to send the transmission direction 805.

  Next, the operation of the driving support system 21 including the driving support information transmission system 20 configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of moving bodies applied to the driving support information transmission system 20, and shows a generalized arrangement of the preceding vehicle 300 and the host vehicle 400.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the traveling direction 301 of the preceding vehicle 300 is represented by an angle value x in which magnetic north is 0 and clockwise is positive, and the traveling direction 401 of the host vehicle 400 is represented by a similar angle value y. . The reception direction of the radio signal 800 is represented by an angle value c where the traveling direction 401 of the host vehicle 400 is 0 and the clockwise direction is positive. When the transmitter 310 exists in a direction in which the receiver 420 directs directivity, the receiver 420 receives the radio signal 800. When the receiver 420 receives the radio signal 800, the presence direction of the preceding vehicle 300 viewed from the own vehicle 400 is equal to the angle value c in the reception direction.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a driving support information transmission method executed in the driving support system 21 including the driving support information transmission system 20.

  As shown in FIG. 16, in the preceding vehicle 300, the transmitter 310 configures a data frame including the identification information and the traveling direction of the preceding vehicle 300 as shown in FIG. 14 (S320). The identification information may be a value written in the transmitter 310 at the time of installation setting, or may be obtained each time from an electronic control unit (not shown) of the preceding vehicle 300 or the like. The traveling direction may be obtained by providing a direction sensor (not shown) in the transmitter 310 and may be obtained from the direction sensor, or may be obtained from the navigation device of the preceding vehicle 300 each time. The transmitter 310 transmits a radio signal 800 representing the data frame with fixed directivity (S330).

  The above-described processing is repeated until the driving of the preceding vehicle 300 ends (S340).

  On the other hand, in own vehicle 400, receiver 420 sets the reception direction of radio signal 800 (S410). For example, in order to receive the radio signal 800 in the clockwise order from the front of the host vehicle 400, the angle value c that increases in increments of 10 from −90 to 90 may be set in order as the reception direction. However, the range, step size, and order of the reception direction are not limited to this example. The reception direction may be set by a microcomputer provided in the receiver 420. The step size in the reception direction may be narrower than the half value width of the reception directivity. Also, the receiving direction that is changed within the transmission time of one data frame is less than the half-width of the receiving antenna so that the data is not lost by changing the receiving direction while receiving one data frame. Is desirable.

  The receiver 420 attempts to receive the radio signal 800 by forming directivity in the set reception direction (S420). When radio signal 800 is received (YES in S430), the reception direction of radio signal 800 is specified as the direction in which preceding vehicle 300 is present (S240).

  The receiver 420 notifies the identification information, the traveling direction, and the existing direction of the preceding vehicle 300 to the driving support device 430 (S450), and the driving support device 430 identifies the identification information, the traveling direction, and the existing direction of the preceding vehicle 300. The driving assistance using is performed (S460). Steps S450 and S460 are substantially the same as steps S250 and S260 in the first embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The above process is repeated until the driving of the host vehicle 400 is completed (S470).

  As described above, according to the driving support information transmission system 20, the preceding vehicle 300 transmits the wireless signal 800 indicating the identification information of the preceding vehicle 300 and the traveling direction, and wirelessly while scanning the directivity with the own vehicle 400. By receiving the signal 800 and recognizing the reception direction of the radio signal 800, the direction in which the preceding vehicle 300 is present can be specified.

  Then, as in the first embodiment, the accuracy and responsiveness of the driving assistance are improved by combining the identification information, the traveling direction, and the existence direction of the preceding vehicle 300 with the surrounding images and the driving information in the driving assistance system 21. .

  Note that the same additional effects as described above can be obtained by applying the detailed configuration described in the driving support information transmission system 10 to the driving support information transmission system 20. Accordingly, a configuration in which the details of the driving support information transmission system 10 are combined with the driving support information transmission system 20 is also included in the present invention.

(Embodiment 3)
In Embodiment 3, a pedestrian or the like uses an antenna such as non-directional or horizontal plane directivity, does not include information indicating the transmission direction, and has a transmitter that transmits the moving direction (traveling direction) and identification information. Thus, a driving support information transmission system that actively informs that a pedestrian is in the vicinity of a vehicle traveling in the vicinity will be described.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of the arrangement of a moving body applied to the driving support information transmission system 30, and generalizes the arrangement of the pedestrian 500 as the first moving body and the own vehicle 200 as the second moving body. It expresses.

  The driving support information transmission system 30 includes the transmitter 310 and the receiver 220 described above. Here, the transmitter 310 and the receiver 220 both transmit and receive the radio signal 800 with fixed directivity.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the traveling direction 501 of the pedestrian 500 is represented by an angle value x where magnetic north is 0 and clockwise is positive. The pedestrian 500 always attaches the transmitter 310 to a part that faces the front of the pedestrian 500 substantially. For example, the transmitter 310 may be attached to a buckle of a belt, a name tag, a front surface of a back band of a school bag, or the like.

  Since the structures and functions of transmitter 310 and receiver 220 are the same as those described above, description thereof will not be repeated here.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a driving support information transmission method executed in the driving support system 31 including the driving support information transmission system 30.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the transmitter 310 attached to the pedestrian 500 forms a data frame including identification information and a traveling direction of the pedestrian 500 as shown in FIG. 14 (S520). The identification information may be a value written in the transmitter 310 at the time of installation setting. The traveling direction may be obtained by providing a direction sensor (not shown) in the transmitter 310 and using the direction sensor. The transmitter 310 transmits a radio signal 800 representing the data frame with fixed directivity (S530).

  The above-described process is repeated until the pedestrian 500 finishes walking (S540).

  On the other hand, in the own vehicle 200, when the receiver 220 receives the radio signal 800 (S620), it detects that there is a pedestrian 500 in the vicinity (S630). However, since the radio signal 800 is transmitted with directivity that is fixed for both transmission and reception, the direction in which the pedestrian 500 is present is not specified.

  The receiver 220 notifies the driving support device 230 of the identification information and the traveling direction of the pedestrian 500 (S650), and the driving support device 230 performs driving support using the identification information and the traveling direction of the pedestrian 500 ( S660).

  The above-described processing is repeated until the driving of the host vehicle 200 is completed (S670).

  Specifically, the driving support in step S660 may be the following processing.

  The driving support device 230 recognizes the object that moves in the notified traveling direction as the pedestrian 500 in the peripheral image acquired by the in-vehicle stereo camera or the radar (S661). Thereby, the processing amount for recognizing the pedestrian 500 can be reduced, and recognition accuracy can be improved. As a result, compared with the case where the pedestrian 500 is recognized only from the surrounding image, the accuracy and responsiveness of driving assistance can be improved.

  The driving support device 230 recognizes the pedestrian 500 in the surrounding image, and performs driving support processing such as warning and braking assistance based on the behavior prediction of the pedestrian 500 using the traveling direction (S663).

  Specifically, the driving support device 230 determines the near future position of the pedestrian 500 from the position of the pedestrian 500 recognized from the surrounding image in step S661 and the traveling direction of the pedestrian 500 notified from the receiver 220. Is predicted with high accuracy. As a result, accurate and early warning and braking assistance can be performed according to the predicted pop-out and the risk of crossing forward.

  As described above, according to the driving support information transmission system 30, the pedestrian 500 transmits the identification information of the pedestrian 500 and the wireless signal 800 indicating the traveling direction, and the own vehicle 200 receives the wireless signal 800. Thus, the presence of the pedestrian 500 can be detected.

  And the precision and responsiveness of driving assistance improve by combining the identification information and the advancing direction of the pedestrian 500 with the surrounding image in the driving assistance system 11.

(Modification)
As described above, the driving support information transmission system, the transmitter, the receiver, the driving support system, and the driving support information transmission method according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described based on the embodiment. It is not limited to the embodiment. Unless it deviates from the gist of the present invention, the embodiment in which various modifications conceived by those skilled in the art have been made in the present embodiment, and forms constructed by combining components in different embodiments are also applicable to one or more of the present invention. It may be included within the scope of the embodiments.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be widely used for driving assistance for vehicles as a driving assistance information transmission system, a transmitter, a receiver, a driving assistance system, and a driving assistance information transmission method.

10, 20, 30 Driving support information transmission system 11, 21, 31 Driving support system 100, 300 First moving body (preceding vehicle)
101, 301 Travel direction 110, 310 Transmitter 111, 311 Substrate 112, 312 IC
113, 313 Transmission signal generator 114, 314 Power amplifier 115, 315 Antenna 115a, 315a Antenna element 116, 316 Passive element 120, 320 Receiver 130, 330 Driving support device 200, 400 Second moving body (own vehicle)
201, 401 Advancing direction 210, 410 Transmitter 220, 420 Receiver 221, 421 Substrate 222, 422 Antenna 222a, 422a Antenna element 223, 423 IC
224, 424 Low noise amplifier 225, 425 Received signal processing unit 226, 426 Passive element 230, 430 Driving support device 500 First moving body (pedestrian)
501 Direction of travel 800 Wireless signal 801 Preamble 802 Packet length 803 Identification information 804 Direction of travel 805 Transmission direction 806 Additional information

Claims (13)

A transmitter that transmits radio signals representing the identification information and the traveling direction of the first mobile body in a plurality of directions with directivity from the first mobile body;
The second mobile unit receives the radio signal, outputs the identification information and the traveling direction of the first mobile unit represented by the received radio signal, and further directs the radio signal during transmission. a receiver the first moving body to identify the direction that exists, and outputs the direction identified by recognizing a transmission direction of the radio signal in the direction of sex based,
A driving support information transmission system comprising: The transmitter transmits the radio signal to the rear of the first moving body;
The driving assistance information transmission system according to claim 1 . The transmitter transmits one data frame of the radio signal with a certain directivity;
The driving assistance information transmission system according to claim 1 . A transmitter for transmitting a radio signal representing the identification information and the traveling direction of the first moving body from the first moving body;
The received with directivity radio signals from a plurality of directions, and outputs said identification information of the first mobile body represented by the received the radio signal and the traveling direction in the second movable body, further, A receiver that identifies the direction in which the first mobile unit exists by recognizing the reception direction of the wireless signal based on the direction of directivity at the time of reception of the wireless signal, and outputs the specified direction; ,
A driving support information transmission system comprising: The transmitter transmits the radio signal to the rear of the first moving body;
The driving assistance information transmission system according to claim 4 . A reply machine that returns a radio signal indicating that the identification information and the traveling direction have been acquired from the second moving body to the first moving body;
The driving assistance information transmission system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 . The transmitter further transmits a radio signal representing an appearance feature of the first moving body;
The driving assistance information transmission system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 . The transmitter transmits the radio signal at a randomized period;
The driving assistance information transmission system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 . The transmitter transmits the amplitude shift keyed radio signal;
The driving assistance information transmission system according to any one of claims 1 to 8 . The transmitter transmits the radio signal using a millimeter wave band;
The driving assistance information transmission system according to any one of claims 1 to 9 . Used in driving support information transmission system according to any one of claims 1-10, receives the radio signal in the second movable body, wherein the first moving body represented by the received the radio signal The identification information and the traveling direction are output, and further the transmission direction or reception direction of the radio signal is determined based on the directionality of the radio signal during transmission or the directionality during reception of the radio signal. A receiver that identifies the direction in which the first moving body exists by recognizing and outputs the identified direction. The driving support information transmission system according to any one of claims 1 to 10 ,
A driving support device that performs driving support in the second moving body based on the identification information and the traveling direction of the first moving body output from the driving support information transmission system;
A driving support system comprising: A driving assistance information transmission method performed using radio signals transmitted or received with directivity in a plurality of directions,
Transmitting the radio signal from the first moving body representing the traveling direction and the identification information of the first movable body,
The second mobile unit receives the radio signal, outputs the identification information and the traveling direction of the first mobile unit represented by the received radio signal, and further directs the radio signal during transmission. Identifying the direction in which the first moving body exists by recognizing the transmission direction or reception direction of the wireless signal based on the direction of the wireless signal or the directivity direction at the time of reception of the wireless signal. Output direction,
Driving support information transmission method.

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