JP6520697B2 - Traffic support system, center, detection device, roadside repeater, in-vehicle communication device, inter-vehicle communication device, roadside display - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology for specifying the position of a vehicle on a road.

  In Patent Document 1, the position and speed of each vehicle collected by road-to-vehicle communication with an autonomous driving vehicle, the position and speed of a vehicle detected by a camera or radar installed on the roadside, and the like The technology of performing automatic operation is described based on the above. In the technology described in Patent Document 1, the position of each vehicle is predicted based on the position, the speed, and the like of each vehicle acquired in this manner, and the autonomous driving vehicle travels smoothly at the junction.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-345396

  However, in Patent Document 1, road-to-vehicle communication with an autonomous vehicle is performed using a leaky coaxial cable provided along a road. For this reason, automatic driving can not be performed unless large-scale equipment is provided, and it is difficult to realize automatic driving on various roads by such a method.

  The present invention is directed to running a vehicle smoothly on various roads.

The traffic assistance system (1) of the present invention includes a center (10), detection devices (20, 30), and a roadside repeater (40).
The center uses information about the position and speed of the vehicle as the vehicle information, and from the detection device, vehicle information of a mounted vehicle which is a vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device (70), and non-vehicle which does not have an inter-vehicle communication device. Based on the vehicle information received by the collection unit (11a, 11b, 12a, 12b) that receives the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle and also receives the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle from the roadside relay, based on the vehicle information received by the collection unit The identification part (11a-11c, 12a-12c, S205, S210, S310, S315, S325, S330, S410, S420, S425, S605, S610) which specifies the position of the vehicle which concerns.

  In addition, the detection device generates a detection device generation unit (21, 32) that generates vehicle information when the vehicle passes through a detection area provided on the road, and the vehicle information generated by the detection device generation unit And a detection device transmission unit (22, 32) for transmitting data.

  Further, the roadside repeater uses the inter-vehicle communication as the wireless communication performed between the inter-vehicle communication devices mounted on the plurality of mounted vehicles in order to control or support the traveling of the mounted vehicle, and the road on which the detection region is provided. Roadside receiver (41) that receives the vehicle information transmitted by inter-vehicle communication from the inter-vehicle communication device installed in the vehicle that travels on the road, and roadside that transmits the vehicle information received by the roadside receiver to the center And a relay unit (42).

  According to such a configuration, the vehicle information obtained when the mounted vehicle equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device and the non-equipped vehicle not equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device pass the detection area on the road , Collected in the center. Furthermore, the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle traveling on the road provided with the detection area, transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication, is collected at the center. For this reason, the vehicle information of many vehicles can be collected at the center without providing large-scale equipment on the road. As a result, at the center, the position etc. of the vehicle traveling on the road where the detection area is provided can be identified with high accuracy, and based on the identification result, the driving instruction or the condition of the road may be provided to the vehicle. it can. Therefore, the vehicle can travel smoothly on various roads.

  Further, the center of the present invention is a vehicle that uses information on the position and speed of the vehicle as the vehicle information, vehicle information of a mounted vehicle which is a vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device (70), and a vehicle A collection unit (11a, 11b, 12a, 12b) that receives vehicle information of non-mounted vehicles, and a specification unit (11a to 11c,) that specifies the position of the vehicle according to the vehicle information based on the vehicle information received by the collection unit. 12a to 12c, S205, S210, S310, S315, S325, S330, S410, S420, S425, S605, and S610).

Further, in order to control or support the traveling of the mounted vehicle, wireless communication performed between the inter-vehicle communication devices mounted on the plurality of mounted vehicles is referred to as inter-vehicle communication.
Then, the collection unit receives vehicle information from the detection device (20, 30) that generates vehicle information when the mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle pass through the detection area provided on the road, and also performs inter-vehicle communication The vehicle information is received from the roadside relay (40) that receives the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle traveling on the road provided with the detection area, which is transmitted by the above.

  Further, the roadside repeater (40) of the present invention uses information on the position and speed of the vehicle as the vehicle information, and is a vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device (70) to control or support the traveling of the vehicle. And a roadside reception unit (41) for receiving vehicle information of the mounted vehicle transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication, which is wireless communication performed by inter-vehicle communication devices mounted on a plurality of mounted vehicles. And a roadside relay unit (42) for transmitting the received vehicle information to the center (10).

  In addition, the center is based on vehicle information received from a detection device (20, 30) that generates vehicle information when the vehicle passes through a detection area provided on a road, and vehicle information received from a roadside relay unit , Identify the position of the mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle which is a vehicle without the inter-vehicle communication device.

Then, the roadside reception unit receives the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle traveling on the road provided with the detection area.
Moreover, a detection apparatus (20, 30) is information about the position and speed of a vehicle as vehicle information, and is a mounted vehicle which is a vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device (70) and a vehicle not equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device. A detection device generation unit (21, 32) that generates vehicle information when a non-mounted vehicle passes through a detection area provided on a road, and the vehicle information generated by the detection device generation unit as a center (10) And a detection device transmission unit (22, 32) for transmitting data.

Further, wireless communication performed between vehicle-to-vehicle communication devices mounted on a plurality of mounted vehicles in order to control or support traveling of the mounted vehicle is referred to as inter-vehicle communication.
Then, the center receives vehicle information received from the roadside relay (40) which receives vehicle information of the mounted vehicle traveling on the road provided with the detection area, which is transmitted by inter-vehicle communication, and received from the detection device transmission unit The positions of the mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle are specified on the basis of the acquired vehicle information.

  Even in the case of using such a center, the roadside repeater, and the detection device in combination, the vehicle information of many vehicles can be collected at the center without providing many facilities on the road. As a result, at the center, the position etc. of the vehicle traveling on the road where the detection area is provided can be identified with high accuracy, and based on the identification result, the driving instruction or the condition of the road may be provided to the vehicle. it can. Therefore, the vehicle can travel smoothly on various roads.

  Further, the on-vehicle communication device (60) of the present invention can be mounted on a vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device (70) and a vehicle not equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device on a non-equipped vehicle. When a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle communication device passes a detection area provided on a road, communication type detection is performed by wireless communication of passage information including information on the speed of the vehicle when passing the detection area. A passing information transmission unit (61) to transmit to the device (30) is provided.

  In addition, wireless communication performed between vehicle-to-vehicle communication devices mounted on a plurality of mounted vehicles is defined as vehicle-to-vehicle communication in order to use information on the position and speed of the vehicle as vehicle information and control or support traveling of the mounted vehicle. . The communication detection device generates vehicle information based on passage information received from a vehicle passing through the detection area, and transmits the vehicle information to the center (10).

  Then, the center receives vehicle information received from the roadside relay (40) which receives vehicle information of a mounted vehicle traveling on a road provided with a detection area, which is transmitted by inter-vehicle communication, and received from the communication type detection device The positions of the mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle are specified on the basis of the acquired vehicle information.

  The speed of the vehicle can be accurately measured by a vehicle speed sensor or the like mounted on the vehicle. On the other hand, according to the above configuration, the on-vehicle communication device mounted on the vehicle that has passed the detection area transmits passage information including the speed of the vehicle to the communication type detection device. For this reason, the speed accurately measured by the vehicle can be provided to the sensor as vehicle information. Therefore, the center can specify the position of the vehicle with high accuracy.

  Further, the inter-vehicle communication device (70) of the present invention is a device mounted on a vehicle, and wirelessly communicates with a device mounted on another vehicle in order to control or support the traveling of the vehicle. Inter-vehicle communication is performed. The inter-vehicle communication device is a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device, along with vehicle information that is information on the position and speed of a vehicle equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device, and surroundings that are information on the positions of other vehicles located around the vehicle An inter-vehicle communication unit (71) for transmitting vehicle information is provided.

  Further, a vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device is a mounted vehicle, and a vehicle without an inter-vehicle communication device is a non-mounted vehicle. In addition, the vehicle information and the surrounding vehicle information are received by the roadside relay (40) that receives the information transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication from the inter-vehicle communication device mounted on the mounted vehicle traveling on the road where the detection area is provided. The roadside repeater transmits the received vehicle information and the surrounding vehicle information to the center (10).

  Then, the center is mounted and not mounted on the basis of the vehicle information received from the detection device (20, 30) that generates the vehicle information when the vehicle passes the detection area and the vehicle information received from the roadside relay unit The position of the vehicle is specified, and the position of the mounted vehicle according to the vehicle information is specified by further taking into consideration the surrounding vehicle information transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication device together with the vehicle information.

  According to such a configuration, the inter-vehicle communication device transmits, together with the vehicle information of the on-board vehicle, peripheral vehicle information which is information on the position of another vehicle located around the on-board vehicle. Therefore, in the center, the peripheral vehicle information is provided together with the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle, and the position of the mounted vehicle is specified by further considering the peripheral vehicle information. Therefore, the position of the vehicle can be specified more accurately.

  In the roadside indicator (50) of the present invention, a vehicle equipped with a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device (70) and a non-vehicle equipped with a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device are provided on the road. When traveling in the traveling area, a driving instruction reception unit (52) receives from the center (10) a driving instruction indicating an operation desired for the vehicle, and a driving instruction displays the driving instruction received by the driving instruction reception unit And a display unit (51).

Further, in order to control or support the traveling of the mounted vehicle, wireless communication performed between the inter-vehicle communication devices mounted on the plurality of mounted vehicles is referred to as inter-vehicle communication.
The center transmits the vehicle information received from the detection device (20, 30) that generates the vehicle information when the vehicle passes through the detection area provided on the road where the traveling area is provided, and the inter-vehicle communication Based on the vehicle information received from the roadside relay (40) that receives the vehicle information of the on-board vehicle traveling on the road where the detection area is provided, the positions of the on-board vehicle and the non-on-board vehicle are specified Based on the result, the driving instruction is generated. Further, in the travel area, a vehicle that has passed the detection area travels.

  According to such a configuration, the driving instruction in the traveling area generated based on the position of the vehicle at the center can be transmitted to the driver or the like of the vehicle traveling in the traveling area. Therefore, the vehicle can travel smoothly in the traveling area.

  In addition, the reference numerals in the parentheses described in this column and the claims indicate the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiment described later as one aspect, and the technical scope of the present invention It is not limited.

It is a block diagram of the traffic assistance system of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the traffic assistance system provided in the confluence | merging point. It is a block diagram of an inter-vehicle communication device of this embodiment. It is a block diagram of the roadside repeater of this embodiment. It is a block diagram of a DSRC in-vehicle machine of this embodiment. It is a block diagram of a vehicle detector of this embodiment. It is a block diagram of a roadside indicator of this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the confluence | merging management center etc. of this embodiment. It is a flowchart of a vehicle DB update process of this embodiment. It is a flowchart of the side road vehicle DB registration process of this embodiment. It is a flowchart of the side road vehicle DB correction process of this embodiment. It is a flowchart of main line vehicle DB correction processing of this embodiment. It is a flowchart of merge operation instruction | command transmission processing of this embodiment. It is a flowchart of a vehicle information update process of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the travel condition of a main road. It is explanatory drawing of the travel condition of a main road.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1. Constitution]
The traffic support system 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a merging management center 10, a vehicle detector 20, a DSRC roadside device 30, a roadside repeater 40, and a roadside display 50. The merging management center 10, the vehicle detector 20, the DSRC roadside device 30, the roadside repeater 40, and the roadside display 50 can communicate with each other via a communication line such as a public communication network, for example. The vehicle detector 20, the DSRC roadside device 30, the roadside repeater 40, and the roadside indicator 50 are installed around the road.

  The roadside repeater 40 receives the information transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication. The inter-vehicle communication is wireless communication performed by the inter-vehicle communication devices 70 mounted on the vehicles, and is performed by, for example, ARIB STD-T 109 (in other words, 700 MHz band intelligent transportation system). The inter-vehicle communication device 70 is mounted on a vehicle equipped with an automatic driving system 80 that controls or assists the traveling of the vehicle. The inter-vehicle communication device 70 includes an inter-vehicle communication unit 71 that performs inter-vehicle communication, and a control unit 72 that integrally controls the inter-vehicle communication device 70 (FIG. 3).

  The autonomous driving system 80 performs autonomous driving and driving assistance. The automatic driving includes the driving operation of the own vehicle, which is a vehicle equipped with the automatic driving system 80, such as acceleration, braking, and steering, automatically causing the own vehicle to travel completely autonomously. . In automatic driving, acceleration and braking of the host vehicle are automatically performed, and the host vehicle is run with autonomous control of only the speed, and steering of the host vehicle is automatically performed. Includes allowing the vehicle to travel in a state in which the vehicle is autonomously controlled. In addition to this, the automatic driving system 80 performs various driving support such as control of vehicle behavior and notification of various messages, for example, to avoid collision with other vehicles and obstacles, and to avoid departure from a lane. You may

  The automatic driving system 80 wirelessly communicates with the inter-vehicle communication device 70 mounted on a nearby vehicle, which is a vehicle traveling around the host vehicle, by means of the inter-vehicle communication device 70 when performing automatic operation or the like. The control unit 72 of the inter-vehicle communication device 70 periodically acquires the latest vehicle information of the own vehicle from the automatic driving system 80 while the own vehicle is traveling, and broadcasts the vehicle information by the inter-vehicle communication. In addition, the control unit 72 receives the vehicle information of the nearby vehicle transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication from the inter-vehicle communication device 70 mounted on the nearby vehicle, and provides the information to the automatic driving system 80. The vehicle information is information on the position, speed, and condition of the vehicle.

  Further, the automatic driving system 80 detects the position, shape, speed and the like of an object such as a surrounding vehicle around the host vehicle by a detection device such as a camera or a radar. Then, the automatic driving system 80 controls the behavior of the own vehicle based on the vehicle information of the own vehicle and the surrounding vehicles, the position of the surrounding vehicles, the speed and the like during the autonomous driving. In addition, the automatic driving system 80 may perform various driving support based on the vehicle information of the own vehicle and the surrounding vehicles, the position of the surrounding vehicles, the speed, and the like.

  The autonomous driving system 80 may generate surrounding vehicle information indicating the positional relationship between the own vehicle and the surrounding vehicles based on the detection result of the detecting device. Specifically, the surrounding vehicle information includes, for example, whether or not there is a surrounding vehicle approaching the own vehicle in front of, behind, to the right, and to the left of the own vehicle, the speed of the surrounding vehicle, It may be information indicating an inter-vehicle distance or a speed difference between the own vehicle and the surrounding vehicle. Then, the control unit 72 of the inter-vehicle communication device 70 may transmit the latest surrounding vehicle information together with the vehicle information of the own vehicle by the inter-vehicle communication.

  Hereinafter, the vehicle equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device 70 is referred to as a mounted vehicle, and the vehicle not equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device 70 is referred to as a non-mounted vehicle. The on-board vehicle has identification information uniquely assigned to the on-board vehicle. The identification information may be stored in a non-volatile storage device provided in the inter-vehicle communication device 70 or the automatic driving system 80.

  On the other hand, the roadside repeater 40 is installed near the road, and receives information transmitted by inter-vehicle communication from the inter-vehicle communication device 70 of the mounted vehicle traveling in the vicinity of the roadside repeater 40. More specifically, the roadside repeater 40 performs inter-vehicle communication from a communication area of a DSRC roadside unit 30 described later or an inter-vehicle communication unit 70 of a mounted vehicle traveling on a road provided with detection points of the vehicle detector 20. Are disposed at positions where the information transmitted by the device can be received. The roadside repeater 40 includes an inter-vehicle communication unit 41 that performs inter-vehicle communication, and a communication unit 42 that communicates with the merging management center 10 (FIG. 4).

  Further, the DSRC roadside device 30 transmits / receives information by DSRC with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 mounted on a vehicle traveling on a communication area provided on a road (hereinafter, passing vehicle). In addition, you may transmit / receive information with the apparatus mounted in the passing vehicle not only by DSRC but by wireless communication of another specification.

  The DSRC in-vehicle device 60 can be mounted on a vehicle on which the automatic driving system 80 is mounted (in other words, a mounted vehicle) and a vehicle on which the automatic driving system 80 is not mounted (in other words, a non-mounted vehicle) ing. In other words, there is a vehicle equipped with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 and a vehicle without the DSRC in-vehicle device 60, that is, a non-vehicle equipped with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 and a non-vehicle equipped with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 And exist.

  When the vehicle equipped with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 travels in the communication area, the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 transmits and receives information according to DSRC with the DSRC roadside device 30 provided in the communication area. The DSRC in-vehicle device 60 includes a DSRC communication unit 61 that communicates with the DSRC roadside device 30, and a control unit 62 that centrally controls the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 (FIG. 5).

  The vehicle detector 20 detects the speed or the like of a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a detection vehicle) traveling on a detection point provided on a road. The vehicle detector 20 includes a detection unit 21 that detects the speed or the like of the detection vehicle by a camera, a radar or the like, and a communication unit 22 that communicates with the merging management center 10 (FIG. 6).

  The roadside indicator 50 is installed on the side or upper side of the road, and displays various information to a person who is on a vehicle traveling on the road. The roadside display 50 includes a display unit 51 that displays various information, and a communication unit 52 that communicates with the merging management center 10 (FIG. 7).

  The merging management center 10 is configured as a computer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an input / output interface, and the like. The various functions of the merging management center 10 are realized by the CPU executing a program stored in the ROM or a program loaded in the RAM (FIG. 8). Also, by executing this program, a method corresponding to the program is executed. The number of CPUs constituting the merging management center 10 may be one or more. Further, the method for realizing the function of the merging management center 10 is not limited to software, and part or all of the elements may be realized using hardware combining logic circuits, analog circuits, and the like.

  In the present embodiment, as an example, the traffic support system 1 is provided around the junction point 101 of the main road 100 and the side road 110 for joining the main road 100 (FIG. 2). Main road 100 may be, for example, an expressway or an elevated road. Further, the main road 100 and the side road 110 may have a plurality of lanes or a single lane. In the main road 100, the lane located closest to the side road is also referred to as a merging lane. In addition, a vehicle traveling on the main road 100 is also referred to as a main vehicle. Further, a vehicle traveling on the side road 110 is also referred to as a side road vehicle.

  Specifically, a vehicle detector 20 and a DSRC roadside device 30 are provided in a section before merging which is a section on the upstream side of the merging point 101 in the side road 110 and the main road 100, respectively. The vehicle detector 20 and the DSRC roadside device 30 provided on the side road 110 will also be described as a side roadside vehicle detector 20a and a side road DSRC roadside device 30a, respectively. Further, the vehicle detector 20 and the DSRC roadside device 30 provided on the main road 100 will also be referred to as a main road side vehicle detector 20b and a main line DSRC roadside device 30b, respectively.

  Also, the roadside repeater 40 is provided between the side road 110 and the main road 100. The roadside repeater 40 receives the information transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication from the inter-vehicle communication device 70 mounted on the vehicle traveling on the road.

  On the main road 100, the detection area of the main vehicle detector 20b is closer to the junction 101 than the communication area of the main DSRC roadside unit 30b. Also, between the communication area and the detection point, after the main line vehicle passes through the communication area, an interval is provided to the extent that lane change can be made with a margin before reaching the detection point. ing. The interval may be determined based on the speed limit of the main road 100 or the like. As an example, when the speed limit of the main road is 100 km / h, the interval may be about 60 m to 100 m.

  Further, the roadside display 50 is provided between the detection area of the main road side vehicle detector 20 b and the junction 101 in the section before the main road 100 merges. That is, the roadside display 50 is arranged to display information for the main line vehicle that has passed the detection area. In other words, the roadside display 50 displays information on the main line vehicle before reaching the junction 101.

On the other hand, in the side road 110, the communication area of the side road DSRC roadside machine 30a is located closer to the junction 101 than the detection area of the side road vehicle detector 20a.
The positions of the vehicle detector 20, the DSRC roadside device 30, the roadside repeater 40, and the roadside indicator 50 are not limited to these, and these can be arranged at various positions. In addition, the traffic support system 1 may be provided at a place other than the junction, such as an intersection.

[2. processing]
(1) Outline First, an outline of processing of the traffic support system 1 will be described.

  The merging management center 10 collects vehicle information of the vehicles and specifies the position of these vehicles based on the collected vehicle information. Specifically, the vehicle information of each vehicle is registered in the vehicle DB. Thereafter, when vehicle information of the same vehicle as the registered vehicle information is acquired, the vehicle information of the vehicle already registered in the vehicle DB is corrected based on the vehicle information. Further, with the passage of time, the position of each vehicle is predicted based on the registered vehicle information, and the registered vehicle information is corrected according to the prediction result.

  Further, the merging management center 10 specifies the registered content of the vehicle DB as the position of each vehicle traveling on a predetermined traveling area on the road (hereinafter, traveling status). Although details will be described later, when identification information or a vehicle attribute is obtained as vehicle information of each vehicle, the identification information or the vehicle attribute is also specified as the traveling state. In the present embodiment, the merging management center 10 specifies, for example, traveling conditions of the merging area and the side road. The merging area is a section of a predetermined length including the merging point on the main road.

  Then, when there is a possibility that the merging management center 10 may interfere with the merging at the merging point, or when there is a possibility that the vehicle may come into contact at the merging, etc., the driving instruction to the main line vehicle before reaching the merging point To generate a merging operation instruction. The merging operation instruction is a driving instruction for smoothly performing merging, in other words, an operation desired for a vehicle traveling on a merging area or a section on the upstream side of the merging area. As a specific example, the merging driving instruction is a lane change instruction, an instruction to maintain the traveling lane (in other words, an instruction to prohibit the lane change), a deceleration instruction, or the like. The merging management center 10 transmits a traveling condition, a merging operation instruction, and the like to the DSRC roadside device 30 and the roadside display 50.

  The vehicle detector 20 detects the speed of the detection vehicle by the detection unit 21 and specifies a traveling lane which is a lane in which the vehicle is traveling. The detection unit 21 also detects the length in the front-rear direction of the vehicle (hereinafter, the vehicle length). Further, the position of the detection point is taken as the current position of the vehicle. Then, vehicle information including the time when the speed or the like is detected, the current location of the vehicle, the traveling lane, the speed, and the vehicle length is generated. The vehicle information is transmitted to the merging management center 10 by the communication unit 22. The vehicle length corresponds to one of the vehicle attributes. Hereinafter, the vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle detector 20 will be referred to as detected vehicle information.

  The DSRC roadside device 30 receives the passing information from the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 of the passing vehicle traveling in the communication area by the receiving unit 32. The passage information includes at least the velocity and acceleration detected by the passing vehicle, and the vehicle attribute. The vehicle attribute included in the passage information may be, for example, the type and size of the passing vehicle. In addition, when the passing vehicle is a mounted vehicle, the passing information further includes identification information of the passing vehicle. The passage information is generated by the control unit 62 of the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 based on detection results of various sensors (for example, vehicle speed sensors) provided in the passing vehicle.

  Then, the receiving unit 32 generates vehicle information of the passing vehicle based on the passing information, and transmits the vehicle information to the merging management center 10. The vehicle information includes the time when the passing vehicle passes through the communication area, the current location of the passing vehicle, the traveling lane, the speed, the acceleration, and the vehicle attribute. Further, in the case where the passage information includes identification information, the vehicle information further includes the identification information. Hereinafter, vehicle information transmitted from the DSRC roadside device 30 will be referred to as ITS vehicle information.

  The current location of the passing vehicle may be the position of the communication area, or may be the current location detected by the GNSS or the like in the passing vehicle and included in the passing information. In addition, the traveling lane may be detected by the DSRC roadside device 30, or may be detected by the passing vehicle and included in the passing information.

  Further, the side roadside DSRC roadside device 30a receives the traveling situation of the merging area from the joining management center 10 by the transmission unit 31, and transmits the traveling situation to the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 of the passing vehicle. Further, the main line side DSRC roadside device 30b receives the traveling condition of the side road and the merging operation instruction from the merging management center 10 by the transmitting unit 31, and transmits them to the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 of the passing vehicle.

  The control unit 62 of the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 that has received the merging operation instruction may display the content of the merging operation instruction via the display unit of the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 (not shown) or another display device. When the vehicle on which the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 is mounted is a mounted vehicle, it may provide the automatic driving system 80 with the received combined driving instruction and traveling condition. Then, the automatic driving system 80 may perform automatic driving and driving assistance in accordance with these.

  Further, the roadside relay device 40 receives, at the inter-vehicle communication unit 41, vehicle information transmitted by inter-vehicle communication from the inter-vehicle communication device 70 of the mounted vehicle traveling on the side road and the main road. The vehicle information includes identification information of the mounted vehicle, current location, speed, acceleration, traveling direction, vehicle attributes, positioning accuracy of the current location, and the like. In addition, the present location etc. are detected by GNSS etc. by the mounting vehicle. Hereinafter, vehicle information transmitted by inter-vehicle communication will be referred to as inter-vehicle information. Further, when the surrounding vehicle information is transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication device 70 together with the inter-vehicle vehicle information, the inter-vehicle communication unit 41 further receives the surrounding vehicle information. Then, the communication unit 42 transmits the received inter-vehicle information or inter-vehicle information and the surrounding vehicle information to the merging management center 10.

  On the other hand, the merging management center 10 stores the inter-vehicle information received from the roadside repeater 40. When the merging management center 10 receives the surrounding vehicle information together with the inter-vehicle vehicle information, the merging management center 10 associates these and stores them.

In addition, the roadside display 50 receives the merging operation instruction from the merging management center 10 at the communication unit 52. Then, the display unit 51 displays the contents of the merging operation instruction.
(2) Vehicle DB The merging management center 10 has a side road vehicle DB 11 in which the vehicle information of the side road vehicle is registered and a main line vehicle DB 12 in which the vehicle information of the main line vehicle is registered. Figure 8). These are provided in a storage device (not shown) which the merging management center 10 has. In the following, updating of the vehicle DB by the merging management center 10 will be described in detail.

(2-1) Vehicle DB Update Process First, the vehicle DB update process for updating the vehicle DB will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In S100, the junction management center 10 determines the presence or absence of detection of the speed or the like by the side roadside vehicle detector 20a based on the content of communication with the side roadside vehicle detector 20a. Then, if the detection is present (S100: Yes), the processing proceeds to S105, and if the detection is not present (S100: No), the processing proceeds to S110.

  In S105, the merging management center 10 executes a side road vehicle DB registration process described later, and proceeds to S110. Specifically, detection vehicle information of a new detection vehicle is received from the side roadside vehicle detector 20a, and is registered in the side road vehicle DB11. This process is performed by the side road vehicle collection unit 11 a of the merging management center 10.

  In S110, the junction management center 10 determines the presence or absence of communication with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 in the side roadside DSRC roadside device 30a based on the content of communication with the side roadside DSRC roadside device 30a. Then, if there is communication (S110: Yes), the process proceeds to S115, and if there is no communication (S110: No), the process proceeds to S125.

  In S115, the merging management center 10 executes a side road vehicle DB correction process described later, and shifts to S120. Specifically, based on the ITS vehicle information of the new passing vehicle received from the side roadside DSRC roadside machine 30a, the side road vehicle DB 11 is updated. This process is performed by the side road vehicle collection unit 11 a of the merging management center 10.

  In S120, the merging management center 10 generates a traveling condition of the merging area based on the content of the main line vehicle DB 12 at the present time. Specifically, the junction management center 10 extracts the current location, the traveling lane, the speed, the acceleration, and the vehicle attribute of the main line vehicle traveling in the junction area from the vehicle information registered in the main line vehicle DB 12. In addition, identification information is further extracted from vehicle information including identification information. Then, the extracted information is set as the traveling condition of the merging area, and is transmitted to the side roadside DSRC roadside machine 30a, and the process proceeds to S125. The present process is performed by the main line information generation / transmission unit 13 of the merging management center 10.

  Here, when the side roadside DSRC roadside device 30a receives the traveling state of the merging area from the merging management center 10, the side roadside DSRC roadside device 30a transmits the traveling state of the merging area to the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 of the passing vehicle. A device such as an autonomous driving system 80 mounted on the passing vehicle predicts the traveling condition around the junction when the passing vehicle reaches the junction based on the traveling condition of the junction area received by the DSRC in-vehicle device 60. It is good. Further, the traveling condition around the junction point predicted based on the vehicle information acquired by the inter-vehicle communication may be corrected according to the traveling condition of the junction area provided from the side roadside DSRC roadside device 30a. Then, the device may perform an automatic operation for smoothly joining based on the traveling condition of the joining area. Specifically, for example, the speed of the passing vehicle is adjusted according to the speed of the main line vehicle, the area where the passing vehicle can enter in the merging lane is specified, and the automatic driving is performed so that the passing vehicle enters the area. You may

  In S125, the merging management center 10 determines the presence or absence of communication with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 in the main DSRC roadside device 30b based on the content of communication with the main DSRC roadside device 30b. Then, if communication is present (S125: Yes), the process proceeds to S130, and if communication is not present (S125: No), the process proceeds to S145.

  In S130, the junction management center 10 receives ITS vehicle information from the main line side DSRC roadside machine 30b and newly registers the ITS vehicle information in the main line vehicle DB12. This process is performed by the main line vehicle collection unit 12 a of the junction management center 10.

  In continuing S135, when the passing vehicle reaches the merging area based on the vehicle information registered in the side road vehicle DB 11 and the main line vehicle DB 12, the merging management center 10 has a side road vehicle entering the merging area from the side road. It is determined whether to do. Then, when the side road vehicle is present, a merging driving instruction to instruct the passing vehicle to change the lane from the merging lane and to decelerate is generated, and the merging driving instruction is transmitted to the main DSRC roadside machine 30b. This process is performed by the merging operation instruction generation / transmission unit 14 b of the merging management center 10.

  In continuing S140, junction management center 10 generates the run situation of a side road based on the registered contents of side road vehicle DB11 at present. Specifically, the merging management center 10 extracts the current location of the side road vehicle, the traveling lane, the speed, the acceleration, and the vehicle attribute from the vehicle information registered in the side road vehicle DB 11. In addition, identification information is further extracted from vehicle information including identification information. Then, the extracted information is used as the traveling condition of the side road, and is transmitted to the main line side DSRC roadside machine 30b, and the process proceeds to S145. This process is performed by the side road information generation / transmission unit 14 a of the merging management center 10.

When the main line side DSRC roadside device 30 b receives the merging operation instruction and the traveling condition of the side road from the merging management center 10, it transmits them to the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 of the passing vehicle.
Then, the device such as the automatic driving system 80 mounted on the passing vehicle may perform the automatic driving of the passing vehicle or the like in accordance with the merging operation instruction received by the DSRC in-vehicle device 60. Specifically, when the merging driving instruction indicates a lane change from the merging lane, the automatic driving may be performed to change the lane to the adjacent lane according to the traveling condition of the adjacent lane. In addition to this, a message prompting the driver to change lanes may be notified. When it is difficult to change lanes, or when the merging operation instruction indicates deceleration, deceleration may be performed by automatic driving to secure an inter-vehicle distance necessary for merging ahead of passing vehicles. The inter-vehicle distance may be calculated based on the vehicle attribute of the side road vehicle identified from the traveling condition of the side road, the speed of the passing vehicle, and the like. In addition to this, in order to secure an inter-vehicle distance necessary for merging, a message prompting the driver to decelerate may be notified.

  The device such as the autonomous driving system 80 mounted on the passing vehicle may predict the traveling condition around the junction when the passing vehicle reaches the junction area based on the traveling condition of the side road. In addition, the traveling condition around the merging point predicted based on the vehicle information acquired by the inter-vehicle communication may be corrected according to the traveling condition of the side road provided from the main line side DSRC roadside machine 30b. Then, the apparatus may perform an automatic operation for smoothly joining based on the traveling condition around the joining point. Specifically, for example, lane change or deceleration may be performed so that side road vehicles can join smoothly.

  In S145, the junction management center 10 determines the presence or absence of detection of the speed or the like by the main line side vehicle detector 20b based on the contents of communication with the main line side vehicle detector 20b. Then, in the case of detection (S145: Yes), the process proceeds to S150, and in the case of no detection (S145: No), the process proceeds to S160.

  In S150, the merging management center 10 performs main line vehicle DB correction processing described later, and shifts to S155. Specifically, the main line vehicle DB 12 is updated based on detected vehicle information of a new detection vehicle received from the main line side vehicle detector 20 b. This process is performed by the main line vehicle collection unit 12 a of the junction management center 10.

  At S155, the merging management center 10 performs merging operation instruction transmission processing described later, and the process moves to S160. Specifically, the merging operation instruction is generated based on the registered contents of the side road vehicle DB 11 and the main line vehicle DB 12 at the current time, and display content which is display data indicating the content of the merging operation instruction is generated. The merging operation instruction and the display data are collectively referred to as a merging operation instruction. Then, the display data is transmitted to the roadside display 50. The display data generation / transmission unit 15 generates and transmits display data of the merging management center 10.

  In S160, the merging management center 10 determines whether or not a predetermined update time has elapsed since the vehicle DB was updated last time. Then, in the case of a positive determination (S160: Yes), the process proceeds to S165, and in the case of a negative determination (S160: No), the process proceeds to S100.

In S165, the merging management center 10 executes vehicle information update processing described later, and shifts to S100.
(2-2) Side Road Vehicle DB Registration Process Next, the side road vehicle DB registration process will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In S200, junction management center 10 determines whether inter-vehicle information of the detected vehicle is included in the inter-vehicle information received from roadside relay device 40 earlier. Specifically, for example, the position of the mounted vehicle according to the inter-vehicle information may be predicted based on the current location, the speed, the acceleration, etc. included in the inter-vehicle information received earlier. And when the said position exists in the detection point of the side road vehicle detector 20a or vicinity of a detection point, you may regard this inter-vehicle vehicle information as inter-vehicle information of a detection vehicle. When the determination is affirmative (S200: Yes), the process proceeds to S205, and when the determination is negative (S200: No), the process proceeds to S210.

  In S205, the merging management center 10 newly registers the vehicle information of the detected vehicle in the side road vehicle DB 11 based on the new detected vehicle information and the inter-vehicle vehicle information of the detected vehicle. Specifically, the vehicle information including the time, current position, traveling lane, speed, vehicle length included in the detected vehicle information, identification information included in the inter-vehicle vehicle information, acceleration, traveling direction, vehicle attribute, It registers in side road vehicle DB11. Then, the merging management center 10 ends the present process.

On the other hand, in S210, the merging management center 10 newly registers new detected vehicle information in the side road vehicle DB 11, and ends this processing.
(2-3) Side Road Vehicle DB Correction Process Next, the side road vehicle DB correction process will be described (FIG. 11).

  At S300, merge management center 10 determines whether or not the new ITS vehicle information includes identification information. When the determination is affirmative (S300: Yes), the process proceeds to S305, and when the determination is negative (S300: No), the process proceeds to S320.

  In S305, based on the identification information included in the new ITS vehicle information, the merging management center 10 searches for vehicle information of the passing vehicle from among the vehicle information including the identification information registered in the side road vehicle DB 11. In other words, vehicle information including identification information of passing vehicles is searched. When the search is successful, the process proceeds to S310, and when the search is unsuccessful, the process proceeds to S315.

  In S310, junction management center 10 corrects the vehicle information found by the search based on the new ITS vehicle information. Specifically, the time, current location, traveling lane, speed, acceleration, vehicle attribute, identification information included in the vehicle information, time included in new ITS vehicle information, current location, traveling lane, speed, acceleration, vehicle attribute , Correct to identification information. Then, the process ends.

In S315, the merging management center 10 registers new ITS vehicle information in the side road vehicle DB 11, and ends this processing.
In S320, the merging management center 10 searches the vehicle information of the passing vehicle from among the vehicle information not including the identification information registered in the side road vehicle DB 11. Specifically, for example, the position of the side road vehicle according to the vehicle information may be predicted based on the current location and the speed included in the vehicle information. When the position is present in the communication area of the side roadside DSRC roadside unit 30a or in the vicinity of the communication area, the side road vehicle may be regarded as a passing vehicle. If the search is successful, the process proceeds to S325, and if the search is unsuccessful, the process proceeds to S330.

  In S325, junction management center 10 corrects the vehicle information found by the search based on the new ITS vehicle information. Specifically, the time, current position, traveling lane, speed, and vehicle attribute included in the vehicle information are corrected to the time, current position, traveling lane, speed, acceleration, and vehicle attribute included in new ITS vehicle information. Then, the process ends.

In S330, the merging management center 10 registers the newly received ITS vehicle information in the side road vehicle DB 11, and ends this processing.
(2-4) Main Line Vehicle DB Correction Process Next, the main line vehicle DB correction process will be described (FIG. 12).

  In S400, in the same manner as in S200, the merge management center 10 determines whether or not there is inter-vehicle information of the detected vehicle among the inter-vehicle information of the vehicle received from the roadside relay device 40 earlier. When the determination is affirmative (S400: Yes), the process proceeds to S405, and when the determination is negative (S400: No), the process proceeds to S415.

  In S405, merging management center 10 searches for vehicle information of the passing vehicle from among the vehicle information including the identification information registered in main line vehicle DB 12 based on the identification information included in the inter-vehicle vehicle information of the detected vehicle. . In other words, vehicle information including identification information of the detected vehicle is searched. If the search is successful, the process proceeds to S410, and if the search is unsuccessful, the process proceeds to S415.

  In S410, the merging management center 10 corrects the vehicle information found by the search based on the new detected vehicle information. Specifically, the time, current location, traveling lane, speed, and vehicle attribute included in the vehicle information are corrected to the time, current location, traveling lane, speed, and vehicle attribute included in new detected vehicle information. Then, the process ends.

  In S415, the merging management center 10 searches for vehicle information of the detected vehicle from among the vehicle information registered in the main line vehicle DB 12. Specifically, for example, based on the current location and the speed included in the registered vehicle information, the position of the main line vehicle according to the vehicle information may be predicted. Then, when the position is present at the detection point of the main line side vehicle detector 20b or in the vicinity of the detection point, the main line vehicle may be regarded as a detection vehicle. If the search is successful, the process proceeds to S420, and if the search is unsuccessful, the process proceeds to S425.

In S420, the merging management center 10 corrects the vehicle information found by the search based on the new detected vehicle information, as in S410. Then, the process ends.
In S425, the merging management center 10 registers new detected vehicle information in the main line vehicle DB 12, and ends this processing.

(2-5) Merge Operation Instruction Transmission Process Next, the merge operation instruction transmission process will be described (FIG. 13).
In S500, junction management center 10 has a side road vehicle that enters the junction area from the side road when the detection vehicle reaches the junction area based on the vehicle information registered in side road vehicle DB11 and main line vehicle DB12. It is determined whether or not. Then, in the case of a positive determination (S500: Yes), the process proceeds to S505, and in the case of a negative determination (S500: No), the present process ends.

  In S505, the merging management center 10 grasps the number of main line vehicles traveling on the adjacent lane adjacent to the merging lane based on the vehicle information registered in the main vehicle DB 12. Then, based on the number of main line vehicles and the like, it is determined whether or not it is possible to determine whether the lane change is possible. Specifically, for example, when the number of main line vehicles is within a predetermined range, it may be considered that the determination can not be made. Then, if the determination is affirmative (S505: Yes), the process proceeds to S510, and if the determination is negative (S505: No), the process proceeds to S525.

  In S510, the merging management center 10 determines whether or not the lane change of the detection vehicle is possible, based on the number of main line vehicles traveling on the adjacent lane. Specifically, for example, when the number of main line vehicles falls below a predetermined threshold, it may be considered that lane change is possible. Then, if the determination is affirmative (S510: Yes), the process proceeds to S515, and if the determination is negative (S510: No), the process proceeds to S520.

In S515, the merging management center 10 generates display data of a merging driving instruction indicating “change lane” and transmits the display data to the roadside display 50. Then, the process ends.
Further, at S520, the merging management center 10 generates display data of a merging operation instruction indicating “deceleration” and transmits the display data to the roadside display 50. Then, the process ends.

Further, at S525, the merging management center 10 generates display data of a merging operation instruction indicating “change lane or decelerating” and transmits the display data to the roadside display 50. Then, the process ends.
In addition, based on the vehicle information registered in the side road vehicle DB 11 and the main line vehicle DB 12, it is assumed that it is determined that there is a side road vehicle entering the merging area from the side road immediately before the detection vehicle reaches the merging area. Be done. Also in such a case, the merging management center 10 may similarly generate display data of the merging operation instruction and transmit it to the roadside display 50.

Also, the roadside display 50 that has received the display data of the merging operation instruction performs display in accordance with the display data.
(2-6) Vehicle Information Update Process Next, the vehicle information update process will be described (FIG. 14).

  In the vehicle information update process, the junction management center 10 sequentially selects each of the vehicle information registered in the side road vehicle DB 11 and the main line vehicle DB 12 and updates the selected vehicle information. When updating the vehicle information of each vehicle DB, the junction management center 10 updates the vehicle information of the non-mounted vehicles after updating all the vehicle information of the mounted vehicles. Specifically, the following processing of S600 to S610 is performed on the selected vehicle information.

  In S600, junction management center 10 has selected vehicle information of the mounted vehicle, and from the end of the previous vehicle information update processing to the current time, inter-vehicle information of the mounted vehicle according to the selected vehicle information is selected. It is determined whether or not it has been received. Then, if the determination is affirmative (S600: Yes), the process proceeds to S605, and if the determination is negative (S600: No), the process proceeds to S610.

  In S605, the merging management center 10 updates the vehicle information being selected based on the inter-vehicle vehicle information of the mounted vehicle according to the vehicle information. Specifically, the current location, speed, acceleration and the like included in the selected vehicle information may be corrected to the current location, speed, acceleration and the like included in the inter-vehicle vehicle information.

  In addition, when the merging management center 10 has received nearby vehicle information together with inter-vehicle vehicle information of the mounted vehicle according to the selected vehicle information, the merging management center 10 further takes into consideration the nearby vehicle information to further select the selected vehicle information. You may update it. Specifically, for example, the surrounding vehicle information indicates that there is a surrounding vehicle approaching the mounted vehicle in front of, behind, to the right, or to the left of the mounted vehicle related to the selected vehicle information. In this case, the current location of the mounted vehicle may be corrected to be close to the surrounding vehicle. Furthermore, when the surrounding vehicle information indicates an inter-vehicle distance between the on-board vehicle and a nearby vehicle in proximity to the on-board vehicle, the distance between the on-board vehicle and the nearby vehicle is the inter-vehicle distance. Yes, the current location of the vehicle may be corrected.

  However, the merging management center 10 does not reach the predetermined time limit after the vehicle mounted on the detection point of the vehicle detector 20 or the communication area of the DSRC roadside device 30 has passed. The vehicle information is not updated based on the inter-vehicle information. In this case, the current position of the mounted vehicle is predicted based on the speed and acceleration included in the selected vehicle information and the elapsed time. Then, the current position included in the selected vehicle information is corrected to the predicted current position.

If the positioning accuracy of the current position included in the inter-vehicle vehicle information does not reach a predetermined level, the selected vehicle information is updated in the same manner as S610 described later.
The inter-vehicle vehicle information is collected from the roadside repeater 40 by the side road vehicle correction unit 11 b and the main line vehicle correction unit 12 b of the junction management center 10. Then, the main line vehicle correction unit 12b updates the vehicle information registered in the main line vehicle DB 12 based on the inter-vehicle vehicle information. Further, the side road vehicle correction unit 11 b updates the vehicle information registered in the side road vehicle DB 11 based on the inter-vehicle vehicle information.

  In S610, the merging management center 10 determines the current location of the vehicle related to the vehicle information based on the speed or the velocity and acceleration included in the vehicle information being selected and the elapsed time since the vehicle information was previously updated. Predict. Then, the current location included in the selected vehicle information is corrected to the current location after prediction. In addition, update of the vehicle information of side road vehicle DB11 is performed by the side road vehicle estimation part 11c. Further, the update of the vehicle information of the main line vehicle DB 12 is performed by the main line vehicle prediction unit 12 c.

  Here, a vehicle relating to vehicle information being selected is taken as a selected vehicle. The merging management center 10 updates the vehicle information in consideration of the current location of the mounted vehicles before and after the selected vehicle (hereinafter, the peripheral mounted vehicle) immediately before the current update timing. That is, the current position of the selected vehicle is predicted on the assumption that the positional relationship between the selected vehicle and the peripheral mounted vehicle whose current position has already been corrected is maintained.

  As an example, the traveling situation 200 shows the actual traveling situation of the main road at time X (FIG. 15). The traveling condition 220 indicates the actual traveling condition of the main road when n seconds have elapsed from time X. The traveling conditions 200 and 220 indicate the current locations of the on-board vehicles 210 to 213 and the non-on-board vehicles 201 to 204.

  On the other hand, the traveling condition 240 is obtained by predicting the current locations of the mounted vehicles 210 to 213 and the non-mounted vehicles 201 to 204 at the time of n seconds based on the traveling condition 200, the speed, the elapsed time, etc. Figure 16). The traveling condition 240 does not take into consideration the positional relationship between the current position of the mounted vehicle specified by the inter-vehicle information and the front-rear direction with the peripheral mounted vehicle of the non-mounted vehicle.

  On the other hand, the traveling condition 260 is also the traveling condition of the main road when n seconds have elapsed. However, in the traveling condition 260, the current locations of the mounted vehicles 210 to 213 indicated by the inter-vehicle vehicle information are reflected, and similarly to S610, the positional relationship with the peripheral mounted vehicles is maintained while maintaining the positional relationship with the surrounding vehicles. The current location is predicted.

  Specifically, as a result of the inter-vehicle information being considered, in the traveling conditions 240 and 260, the current location of the mounted vehicle 211 is largely different. Further, in the traveling condition 260, the positional relationship between the mounted vehicle 211 and the non-equipped vehicle 201 in the traveling condition 200 is maintained in the front-rear direction. For this reason, in the traveling situations 240 and 260, the current location of the non-mounted vehicle 201 is different.

[3. effect]
According to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) According to the present embodiment, the vehicle information obtained when the mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle pass through the communication area and the detection point on the road and the road transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication are traveled. The vehicle information of the mounted vehicle is collected in the merging management center 10. For this reason, it is possible to collect vehicle information of many vehicles at the junction management center 10 without providing large-scale equipment on the road. As a result, in the merging management center 10, the communication area and the position of the vehicle traveling on the road on which the detection point is provided can be identified with high accuracy, and the driving instruction is given based on the identification result. It can be provided. Therefore, the vehicle can travel smoothly on various roads.

  (2) Further, the speed of the vehicle can be accurately measured by a vehicle speed sensor or the like mounted on the passing vehicle. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the DSRC roadside device 30 receives passage information from the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 mounted on a passing vehicle traveling in the communication area, and generates ITS vehicle information based on the passage information. , ITS vehicle information is transmitted to the merging management center 10. And, the passing information includes the speed of the passing vehicle. For this reason, the speed accurately measured by the passing vehicle can be provided to the merging management center 10 as vehicle information. Therefore, the merging management center 10 can specify the position of the passing vehicle with high accuracy.

  (3) Further, the side roadside DSRC roadside device 30a transmits the traveling condition of the main road to the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 of the passing vehicle. Further, the main line side DSRC roadside device 30b transmits the traveling condition of the side road to the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 of the passing vehicle. For this reason, in a side road vehicle or a main line vehicle provided with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60, it is possible to perform an operation instruction, an automatic operation, and the like for smoothly joining at the junction.

  (4) Also, the ITS vehicle information of the mounted vehicle generated by the DSRC roadside device 30 includes the identification information of the mounted vehicle, and the ITS vehicle information is registered in the vehicle DB in a state including the identification information. Be done. As a result, the merging management center 10 can accurately associate the newly acquired ITS vehicle information with the vehicle information of the same mounted vehicle registered in the vehicle DB, using the identification information. . In addition, the merging management center 10 must use the identification information to accurately associate the vehicle information registered in the vehicle DB with the inter-vehicle information of the same vehicle as the vehicle related to the vehicle information. Can. For this reason, the vehicle information registered in the vehicle DB can be accurately updated by the newly acquired vehicle information. Therefore, the accuracy of the vehicle information can be enhanced.

  (5) Further, the inter-vehicle communication device 70 transmits the inter-vehicle information together with the inter-vehicle information via inter-vehicle communication, and the peripheral vehicle information is relayed to the merging management center 10 together with the inter-vehicle information. Then, when updating the vehicle information registered in the vehicle DB based on the inter-vehicle vehicle information, the junction management center 10 considers the content of the surrounding vehicle information transmitted together with the inter-vehicle vehicle information. Therefore, the position of the vehicle can be identified with higher accuracy.

  (6) Further, the merging management center 10 generates an operation instruction to the passing vehicle of the main line side DSRC roadside machine 30b and transmits it to the main line side DSRC roadside machine 30b. Then, the main line side DSRC roadside device 30b transmits a driving instruction to the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 of the passing vehicle. Further, the merging management center 10 generates a driving instruction for the detection vehicle of the main line side vehicle detector 20 b and transmits the operation instruction to the roadside display 50. Then, the roadside display 50 displays the content of the driving instruction. Therefore, it is possible to urge the driver of the main line vehicle traveling at the junction point to drive the side road vehicle to smoothly join the main road.

  (7) Moreover, the traffic assistance system 1 of this embodiment is provided in the side road 110 and the main road 100 which merge at the junction point 101. For this reason, it is possible to smoothly join the main road 100 from the side road 110.

  (8) Further, on the main road 100, the detection area of the main vehicle detector 20b is located closer to the merging point 101 than the communication area of the main DSRC roadside device 30b. Then, between the communication area and the detection point, after the main line vehicle passes through the communication area, an interval sufficient to allow lane change with a margin is opened before reaching the detection point. ing. Further, the roadside display 50 is provided at a position between the detection area of the main line side vehicle detector 20b and the junction point 101 in the pre-junction section. That is, the roadside display 50 is arranged to display information for the main line vehicle that has passed the detection area.

  For this reason, it is possible to give a driving instruction to the main line vehicle twice, when passing through the communication area of the main road side DSRC roadside device 30b and after passing through the detection area of the main line side vehicle detector 20b. Also, the distance between the communication area and the detection area is sufficiently wide. For this reason, the main line vehicle that has received the driving instruction to change lanes when passing through the communication area ignores the driving instruction, or when the driving instruction is overlooked, etc. It is possible to give an operation instruction such as change.

[4. Other embodiments]
As mentioned above, although the form for implementing this invention was demonstrated, this invention can be variously deformed and implemented, without being limited to the above-mentioned embodiment.

  (1) The traffic support system 1 of the present embodiment is provided at the junction 101 of the main road 100 and the side road 110, and from the upstream side of the main road 100 toward the junction 101, the main side DSRC roadside machine 30b, a main line side vehicle detector 20b, and a roadside display 50 are provided.

  However, a communication area of the DSRC roadside device 30 may be further provided between the detection point of the main line side vehicle detector 20b and the junction point 101. As a result, it is possible to more accurately instruct lane change and deceleration to a vehicle equipped with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60.

  In addition, on the main road 100, when a lane change is made in the vicinity of the roadside display 50, a detection point of the vehicle detector 20 may be further installed at a point where the lane change is predicted to be completed. Thus, the merging management center 10 can more accurately grasp the traveling condition in the vicinity of the merging point 101.

  Further, on the main road 100, a roadside display 50 may be further provided in the vicinity of the communication area of the main DSRC roadside machine 30b. When the passing vehicle passes through the communication area of the main DSRC roadside unit 30b, the joint management center 10 transmits, to the roadside display 50, the same merging operation instruction as that transmitted to the main DSRC roadside unit 30b. The merging operation instruction may be displayed on the roadside display 50. Thus, it is possible to instruct lane change and deceleration at an earlier stage to both the vehicle equipped with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 and the vehicle not equipped with the DSRC in-vehicle device 60.

  (2) In the present embodiment, when the vehicle travels the communication area of the DSRC roadside machine 30 or the detection point of the vehicle detector 20, vehicle information is generated, and the vehicle information is collected by the merging management center 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a detection area longer than the communication area and the detection point is provided on the road, the detection area is photographed by a camera, and vehicle information of a vehicle traveling the detection area is generated based on the photographed image. It is good. Then, the merging management center 10 may register the generated vehicle information in the vehicle DB, and similarly specify the detection section and the position of the vehicle traveling on the road outside the detection section.

  (3) In the present embodiment, vehicle information generated by a vehicle traveling on a road is collected by inter-vehicle communication and provided to the merging management center 10. However, the vehicle information generated by the vehicle may be collected by wireless communication other than inter-vehicle communication and provided to the merging management center 10.

  (4) The multiple functions of one component in the above embodiment may be realized by multiple components, or one function of one component may be realized by multiple components. . Also, a plurality of functions possessed by a plurality of components may be realized by one component, or one function realized by a plurality of components may be realized by one component. In addition, part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be omitted. In addition, at least a part of the configuration of the above-described embodiment may be added to or replaced with the configuration of the other above-described embodiment. In addition, all the aspects contained in the technical thought specified only by the words described in the claim are an embodiment of the present invention.

  (5) Other than the traffic support system 1, the merging management center 10, the vehicle detector 20, the DSRC roadside device 30, the roadside repeater 40, the roadside indicator 50, the DSRC in-vehicle device 60, and the inter-vehicle communication device 70, A program for causing a computer to function as the merging management center 10 or the like, a non-transitional real recording medium such as a semiconductor memory recording the program, a method corresponding to a process executed by the traffic support system 1, etc. The invention can also be realized.

[5. Correspondence with the claims]
The merging management center 10 is an example of the center, the vehicle detector 20 and the DSRC roadside device 30 are an example of the detection device, the DSRC roadside device 30 is an example of the communication type detection device, and the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 is an example of the on-vehicle communication device. Equivalent to. In addition, the traveling situation in the merging area or the like corresponds to an example of the identification result.

Further, the main road 100 corresponds to an example of the merging road, and the side road 110 corresponds to an example of the merging road. Also, the detection point and the communication area correspond to an example of a detection area.
Further, the side road vehicle collection unit 11a, the side road vehicle correction unit 11b, the main line vehicle collection unit 12a, and the main line vehicle correction unit 12b in the merging management center 10 correspond to an example of the collection unit. Further, the side road vehicle collection unit 11a, the side road vehicle correction unit 11b, the side road vehicle prediction unit 11c, the main line vehicle collection unit 12a, the main line vehicle correction unit 12b, and the main line vehicle prediction unit 12c correspond to an example of the specification unit. . Further, the main line information generation / transmission unit 13 and the side road information generation / transmission unit 14 a correspond to an example of the specification result transmission unit.

The detection unit 21 of the vehicle detector 20 corresponds to an example of a detection device generation unit, and the communication unit 22 corresponds to an example of a detection device transmission unit.
In addition, the transmission unit 31 of the DSRC roadside device 30 corresponds to an example of the identification result relay unit, and the reception unit 32 corresponds to an example of the detection device generation unit, the detection device transmission unit, and the passage information reception unit.

The inter-vehicle communication unit 41 of the roadside relay 40 corresponds to an example of the roadside reception unit, and the communication unit 42 corresponds to an example of the roadside relay unit.
Further, the display unit 51 of the roadside display 50 corresponds to an example of the driving instruction display unit, and the communication unit 52 corresponds to an example of the driving instruction reception unit.

Further, the DSRC communication unit 61 of the DSRC in-vehicle device 60 corresponds to an example of the passage information transmission unit.
S135 of the vehicle DB update process corresponds to an example of the driving instruction generation unit and the driving instruction transmission unit. Moreover, S205 and S210 of side road vehicle DB registration processing correspond to an example of a specific part. Moreover, S310, S315, S325, S330 of a side road vehicle DB correction process corresponds to an example of a specific part. Moreover, S410, S420, S425 of main line vehicle DB correction processing corresponds to an example of an identification part. Further, S515 to S525 of the merging operation instruction transmission process correspond to an example of the operation instruction generation unit and the operation instruction transmission unit. Moreover, S605 and S610 of a vehicle information update process correspond to an example of a specific part.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Traffic support system, 10 ... Merge management center, 11 ... Side road vehicle DB, 11a ... Side road vehicle collection part, 11b ... Side road vehicle correction part, 11c ... Side road vehicle prediction part, 12 ... Main line vehicle DB, 12a ... Main line vehicle collection unit, 12b ... Main line vehicle correction unit, 12c ... Main line vehicle prediction unit, 13 ... Main line information generation and transmission unit, 14a ... Side road information generation and transmission unit, 20 ... Vehicle detector, 21 ... Detection unit, 22: Transmission unit, 30: DSRC roadside machine, 31: Transmission unit, 32: Reception unit, 40: Roadside repeater, 41: Inter-vehicle communication unit, 42: Communication unit, 50: Roadside indicator, 51: Display unit, 52 communication unit 60 DSRC in-vehicle device 61 DSRC communication unit 70 inter-vehicle communication device 71 inter-vehicle communication unit 80 automatic driving system 100 main road 101 junction point 110 side road.

Claims (15)

A traffic assistance system (1) comprising a center (10), detection devices (20, 30), and a roadside repeater (40),
The center is
Information regarding the position and speed of the vehicle is used as the vehicle information, and from the detection device, the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle which is a vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device (70) and the vehicle which is not a vehicle equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device A collection unit (11a, 11b, 12a, 12b) that receives the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle and receives the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle from the roadside repeater;
The identification unit (11a to 11c, 12a to 12c, S205, S210, S310, S315, S325, S330, S410, S420, and S420) that identifies the position of the vehicle related to the vehicle information based on the vehicle information received by the collection unit. S425, S605, S610),
Equipped with
The detection device
A detection device generation unit (21, 32) for generating the vehicle information when the vehicle passes through a detection area provided on a road;
A detection device transmission unit (22, 32) for transmitting the vehicle information generated by the detection device generation unit to the center;
The roadside repeater is
In order to control or support the traveling of the mounted vehicle, the wireless communication performed between the inter-vehicle communication devices mounted on a plurality of mounted vehicles is taken as the inter-vehicle communication, and travels on the road provided with the detection region. A roadside receiver (41) for receiving the vehicle information transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication from the inter-vehicle communication device mounted on the mounted vehicle;
A roadside relay unit (42) for transmitting the vehicle information received by the roadside reception unit to the center;
Traffic support system equipped with In the traffic support system according to claim 1,
At least a part of the detection device is configured as a communication type detection device (30) that wirelessly communicates with an on-vehicle communication device (60) mounted on a passing vehicle that is a vehicle traveling the detection area,
The communication type detection device further includes a passing information receiving unit (32) which wirelessly communicates with the in-vehicle communication device and receives passing information which is information including the speed of the passing vehicle.
The detection device generation unit of the communication type detection device generates the vehicle information of the passing vehicle based on the passage information received by the passage information receiving unit.
A traffic support system characterized by In the traffic support system according to claim 2,
The center further includes a specification result transmission unit (13, 14a) for transmitting the specification result by the specification unit to the communication type detection device,
The communication type detection device receives a specification result from the center, and transmits a specification result relay unit (31) for transmitting the specification result to the in-vehicle communication device mounted on the passing vehicle.
A traffic support system further comprising. In the traffic support system according to claim 2 or claim 3,
The vehicle information transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication further includes identification information uniquely assigned to the mounted vehicle according to the vehicle information,
The passage information transmitted from the on-vehicle communication device mounted on the mounted vehicle includes the identification information of the mounted vehicle.
If the identification information is included in the passage information, the detection device generation unit of the communication detection device generates the vehicle information including the identification information based on the passage information.
The identification unit identifies the vehicle information about the same mounted vehicle from the received vehicle information based on the identification information included in the vehicle information, and the position of the mounted vehicle based on the identified result. To identify,
A traffic support system characterized by The traffic assistance system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The inter-vehicle communication device transmits, together with the vehicle information, surrounding vehicle information which is information on the position of another vehicle located around the mounted vehicle according to the vehicle information, by the inter-vehicle communication,
The roadside receiver further receives the surrounding vehicle information in addition to the vehicle information,
The roadside relay unit transmits the vehicle information and the surrounding vehicle information received by the roadside reception unit to the center.
The specifying unit specifies the position of the mounted vehicle according to the vehicle information, further taking into consideration the surrounding vehicle information transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication device together with the vehicle information.
A traffic support system characterized by In the traffic support system according to any one of claims 4 or 5 , which cites claim 3 or claim 3 .
The center is
The vehicle according to the vehicle information collected by the collection unit travels in a traveling area provided on a road provided with the detection area and traveled by a vehicle passing through the detection area. An operation instruction generation unit (S135, S515 to S525) that generates an operation instruction indicating a desired operation based on the identification result;
A driving instruction transmitting unit (S135, S515 to S525) for transmitting the driving instruction to the outside;
A traffic support system further comprising In the traffic support system according to claim 6,
The traffic assistance system further comprises a roadside indicator (50) for displaying information for a vehicle traveling on a road,
The driving instruction transmission unit transmits the driving instruction to the roadside indicator.
The roadside indicator is
A driving instruction receiving unit (52) for receiving the driving instruction from the center;
A driving instruction display unit (51) for displaying the driving instruction received by the driving instruction reception unit;
Traffic support system equipped with In the traffic support system according to claim 6 or 7,
A point at which the merging road (100) and the merging road (110) joining the merging road join is defined as a merging point (101).
The detection area is provided in a section before merging, which is a section in the merging road and the merged road where a vehicle passing through the merging point travels before reaching the merging point.
The traveling area is an area including the junction point,
A traffic support system characterized by In the traffic support system according to claim 8, citing claim 2 and claim 7
The detection device which is not the communication type detection device is a vehicle detector (20),
At least the detection area of one communication type detection device and the detection area of one vehicle detector are provided in the pre-joining section of the joining road, and the detection of the vehicle detector is performed. The area is located closer to the junction compared to the detection area of the communication type detection device,
The roadside display displays the driving instruction to the vehicle that has passed through the detection area of the vehicle detector.
A traffic support system characterized by Information on the position and speed of the vehicle is used as the vehicle information, the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle which is a vehicle equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device (70), and the vehicle of the non-mounted vehicle which is a vehicle not equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device Collection units (11a, 11b, 12a, 12b) that receive information;
The identification unit (11a to 11c, 12a to 12c, S205, S210, S310, S315, S325, S330, S410, S420, and S420) that identifies the position of the vehicle related to the vehicle information based on the vehicle information received by the collection unit. S425, S605, S610),
Equipped with
In order to control or support traveling of the mounted vehicle, wireless communication performed between the inter-vehicle communication devices mounted on a plurality of mounted vehicles is referred to as inter-vehicle communication,
The collection unit receives the vehicle information from a detection device (20, 30) that generates the vehicle information when the mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle pass through a detection area provided on a road, Receiving the vehicle information from a roadside relay (40) that receives the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle traveling on the road provided with the detection area, transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication;
A center characterized by (10). Information on the position and speed of the vehicle is used as the vehicle information, and it is a vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device (70), and mounted on a plurality of the vehicles to control or support the traveling of the vehicle. A roadside reception unit (41) for receiving the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication which is wireless communication performed between the inter-vehicle communication devices;
A roadside relay unit (42) for transmitting the vehicle information received by the roadside reception unit to a center (10);
The center receives the vehicle information received from the detection device (20, 30) that generates the vehicle information when the vehicle passes through a detection area provided on a road, and the vehicle information received from the roadside relay unit And identifying the positions of the mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle which is a vehicle without the inter-vehicle communication device,
The roadside reception unit receives the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle traveling on a road provided with the detection area.
A roadside repeater (40) characterized by A vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device (70) and a non-equipped vehicle not equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device are provided on a road, with information regarding the position and speed of the vehicle as vehicle information. A detection device generation unit (21, 32) that generates the vehicle information when passing through the detected area;
A detection device transmission unit (22, 32) for transmitting the vehicle information generated by the detection device generation unit to a center (10);
The wireless communication performed between the inter-vehicle communication devices mounted on a plurality of the mounted vehicles in order to control or support the traveling of the mounted vehicle is defined as an inter-vehicle communication,
The center receives the vehicle information received from the roadside relay (40) that receives the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle traveling on the road provided with the detection area, transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication, and the detection Specifying the positions of the mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle based on the vehicle information received from the device transmitting unit;
A detection device (20, 30) characterized by An on-vehicle communication device (60) capable of mounting a vehicle equipped with an inter-vehicle communication device (70) and a vehicle not equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device on a non-equipped vehicle,
When the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle communication device passes a detection area provided on a road, the in-vehicle communication device is passing information which is information including the speed of the vehicle when passing the detection area. A passing information transmitting unit (61) for transmitting to the communication type detecting device (30) by wireless communication;
Information on the position and speed of the vehicle is taken as vehicle information,
In order to control or support traveling of the mounted vehicle, wireless communication performed between the inter-vehicle communication devices mounted on a plurality of mounted vehicles is referred to as inter-vehicle communication,
The communication type detection device generates the vehicle information based on the passage information received from the vehicle passing through the detection area, and transmits the vehicle information to the center (10).
The center receives the vehicle information received from the roadside relay (40) that receives the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle traveling on the road provided with the detection area, transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication, and the communication Specifying the positions of the mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle based on the vehicle information received from the pattern detection device;
An on-vehicle communication device characterized by An inter-vehicle communication device that is a device mounted on a vehicle and performs inter-vehicle communication that is wireless communication with a device mounted on another vehicle in order to control or support traveling of the vehicle. (70) and
The inter-vehicle communication device is, by means of the inter-vehicle communication, vehicle information which is information on the position and speed of the vehicle on which the inter-vehicle communication device is mounted, and information on the positions of other vehicles located around the vehicle. It has an inter-vehicle communication unit (71) that transmits certain surrounding vehicle information,
A vehicle mounted with the inter-vehicle communication device is a mounted vehicle, and a vehicle not equipped with the inter-vehicle communication device is a non-mounted vehicle.
The vehicle information and the surrounding vehicle information are roadside relays that receive information transmitted by the inter-vehicle communication from the inter-vehicle communication device mounted on the mounted vehicle traveling on a road provided with a detection area 40) received by
The roadside repeater transmits the received vehicle information and the surrounding vehicle information to a center (10).
The center is based on the vehicle information received from the detection device (20, 30) that generates the vehicle information when the vehicle passes the detection area, and the vehicle information received from the roadside relay. The position of the mounted vehicle according to the vehicle information is specified by specifying the positions of the mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle and further taking into consideration the surrounding vehicle information transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication device together with the vehicle information. about,
An inter-vehicle communication device characterized by When a vehicle equipped with a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device (70) and a non-equipped vehicle without a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device travel in a traveling area provided on a road, it is desirable for the vehicle An operation instruction receiving unit (52) for receiving from the center (10) an operation instruction indicating an operation to be performed;
A driving instruction display unit (51) for displaying the driving instruction received by the driving instruction reception unit;
In order to control or support traveling of the mounted vehicle, wireless communication performed between the inter-vehicle communication devices mounted on a plurality of mounted vehicles is referred to as inter-vehicle communication,
Information on the position and speed of the vehicle is taken as vehicle information,
The said center is the said vehicle information received from the detection apparatus (20, 30) which produces | generates the said vehicle information at the time of a vehicle passing through the detection area provided on the road in which the said travel area was provided, The mounted vehicle and the non-mounted vehicle based on the vehicle information transmitted from the roadside relay machine (40) for receiving the vehicle information of the mounted vehicle traveling on a road provided with the detection area, transmitted by communication Identifying the position of the vehicle and generating the driving instruction based on the identified result;
In the traveling area, a vehicle having passed through the detection area travels.
Roadside indicator (50) characterized by.