JP7197283B2 - Communication device and communication system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a communication device and a communication system for communicating with trains such as railroad cars.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image display devices capable of displaying moving images and the like have been installed in trains to display contents such as operation information and advertisements to passengers onboard. A train operator such as a railway operator can collect advertising fees by running advertisements in trains and use them as a new source of income.

Regarding the updating of content such as advertisements, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, content is distributed to trains by wireless communication from a server provided in a facility on the ground such as a station or a garage. is being done.

JP 2009-105787 A

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) used in a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) when updating contents for equipment in a train by wireless communication from ground facilities as described in Patent Document 1 ) If the communication method is based on the 802.11 standard, there are the following problems.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a connection state with the ground stations G1 to G3, which are wireless communication devices installed on the ground, when the train T of 10 cars enters, for example, a garage. The ground stations G1 to G3 are installed along the track (track) in the order of the ground station G1, the ground station G2, and the ground station G3 from the incoming direction of the train T. Also, in FIG. 7, each car of the train T is t1, t2, t3, . Two wireless devices w are installed.

FIG. 7(a) shows the state at the beginning of entering the line. In FIG. 7A, since the leading vehicle t1 and the second vehicle t2 are included in the communication range of the ground station G1, the radio w of the leading vehicle t1 and the radio w of the second vehicle t2 are connected to the ground station G1. Connected.

FIG. 7(b) shows a state in which the train T has further entered the line from FIG. 7(a). In FIG. 7B, the leading vehicle t1 is out of the communication range of the ground station G1 and included in the communication range of the ground station G2. Therefore, the radio w of the leading vehicle t1 is reconnected to the ground station G2 after being disconnected from the ground station G1. Further, since the second vehicle t2 to the seventh vehicle t7 are included in the communication range of the ground station G1, the radios w of these vehicles are connected to the ground station G2. However, since the radio w of the second vehicle t2 is far away from the ground station G2 to which it is connected, the radio field strength, etc. is compared with the radio w of the fourth vehicle t4 to the seventh vehicle t7. The communication speed is declining due to (thin line in the figure).

And FIG.7(c) is the state which completed the entry of the train T and stopped. In FIG. 7(c), the radios w of the leading vehicle t1 to the fourth vehicle t4 are connected to the ground station G2, and the radios w of the fifth vehicle t5 to t10 on both sides are connected to the ground station G1. It is In FIG. 7C, the wireless devices w of the leading vehicle t1 and the second vehicle t2 are far from the ground station G2 to which they are connected. Communication speed is slow. Similarly, since the radio w of the fifth vehicle t5 is far from the connected ground station G3, the communication speed is higher than that of the radio w of the seventh vehicle t7 to the tenth vehicle t10. is declining.

In the state of FIG. 7(c), although all the vehicles are wirelessly connected to the ground station, some vehicles have low communication speeds, so some vehicles take a long time to update the content.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a communication apparatus capable of reducing a decrease in communication speed when wirelessly communicating with communication equipment installed on a train.

The invention described in claim 1, which was made to solve the above problems, is a communication device installed in each car that constitutes a train and capable of acquiring car number information of the car and a radio communication antenna installed on the ground. a communication device that communicates via a receiving unit that receives the vehicle number from the communication device; a detection unit that detects the last vehicle in the train based on the vehicle number received by the receiving unit; a communication control unit that resets the connection between the communication device and the communication device after the detection unit detects the rearmost vehicle , wherein the communication control unit causes the detection unit to detect the rearmost vehicle. The communication device is characterized by transmitting a signal indicating resetting of communication to the communication device after the time required for the train to stop at a predetermined position has elapsed after detection.

The invention recited in claim 2 is the invention recited in claim 1, wherein the vehicle number indicating the last vehicle is set in the detection unit .

The invention recited in claim 3 is the invention recited in claim 1 or 2, wherein the communication control unit, after transmitting the signal indicating the reset of the communication, after being reconnected to the communication device, performs a predetermined to the communication device .

The invention described in claim 4 communicates with a communication device that is installed in each vehicle that constitutes a train and that can acquire vehicle number information of the vehicle, and the communication device and the wireless communication antenna that is installed on the ground. a communication device, wherein the communication device includes a receiving unit that receives the car number from the communication device; and a last car in the train based on the car number received by the receiving unit. and a communication control unit for resetting the connection between the communication device and the communication device after the detection unit detects the last vehicle, wherein the communication control unit includes the detection unit transmits a signal indicating a reset of communication to the communication device after the time required for the train to stop at a predetermined position after the detection of the last vehicle has passed. is.

The invention recited in claim 5 is the invention recited in claim 4 , wherein the communication device reconnects after once disconnecting from the wireless communication antenna based on the signal indicating the reset of the communication. It is characterized by

The invention recited in claim 6 is characterized in that, in the invention recited in claim 5, the communication device is reconnected to the wireless communication antenna having the strongest radio wave intensity .

According to the first aspect of the invention, since the wireless communication is disconnected after the last vehicle of the train is detected, the wireless communication connection can be reset after the last vehicle of the train is detected. Therefore, it is possible to disconnect and reconnect the communication from the state in which the communication speed is lowered as shown in FIG. 7(c). It can be connected to station G3.

Also , after detecting the last vehicle of the train, the wireless communication connection can be reset from the communication device side. Therefore, it is not necessary for the communication device to detect the last vehicle, and general-purpose devices can be used. Further, the communication control unit transmits a signal indicating resetting of communication after the time required for the train to stop at a predetermined position after the detecting unit detects the last vehicle, so that the train stops. Communication can be reconnected while the positional relationship between the communication equipment of each vehicle and the ground station installed on the ground is fixed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the vehicle number indicating the last vehicle is set in the detector, so that the detection process of the last vehicle can be simplified. In addition, the communication equipment installed in the train does not need processing to detect that it is the last train, and only needs to transmit the car number, and the structure of the train can be simplified. .

According to the third aspect of the invention, the communication control unit transmits the information regarding the predetermined content to the communication device after transmitting the signal indicating the reset of communication, and after being reconnected to the communication device. Contents can be transmitted after the communication state is improved. Therefore, transmission of content at a slow communication speed can be prevented.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the wireless communication is disconnected after the last vehicle of the train is detected, the wireless communication connection can be reset after the last vehicle of the train is detected. Therefore, it is possible to disconnect and reconnect the communication from the state in which the communication speed is lowered as shown in FIG. 7(c). It can be connected to station G3.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication system having a communication device according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the data delivery device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system configuration in the vehicle shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a functional configuration diagram of the image display device shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the communication system shown in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of connection between the radio set on the train and the ground station on the ground when the train enters the garage; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection state between a wireless device installed in a train T and a ground station installed on the ground in the prior art;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication system having a communication device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The communication system 100 shown in FIG. and a wireless device w.

The data distribution device 1 is a server device (server computer) installed in a predetermined facility, and is content information including image information such as advertisements edited by a data editing device (not shown) and display control information for the image information. is input, and the content information is distributed to the image display devices 10 (see FIG. 3) installed in the respective cars t1 to t10 of the train T via the ground stations G1 to G3. The display control information is control information for changing display contents according to, for example, the installation position of the image display device 10 in the vehicle, the current position of the train T, the current time, the type of train, or the like.

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the data delivery device 1. As shown in FIG. The data distribution device 1 includes a data input section 2 , a processing section 3 , a communication section 4 and a storage section 5 .

The data input unit 2 functions as a network interface, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface, etc. of the server device that constitutes the data distribution device 1, and receives the above-described content information and the like from the data editing device.

A CPU (Central Processing Unit) of a server device constituting the data distribution apparatus 1 functions as a processing unit 3 as a detection unit and a communication control unit, and controls the overall control of the data distribution apparatus 1 . The processing unit 3 temporarily accumulates the content information input from the data input unit 2 in the storage unit 5, and performs connection control of communication with the wireless devices w installed in the respective vehicles t1 to t10 and distribution control of the content information. .

The communication unit 4 as a reception unit functions as a network interface or the like of a server device that constitutes the data delivery device 1, and transmits and receives data indicating communication control, data including content information, and the like.

The storage unit 5 functions as a storage device such as a hard disk of the server device that constitutes the data delivery device 1, and stores the above-described image information and the like.

The ground stations G1 to G3 are installed along the tracks (tracks) such as stations and garages where the train T enters. The ground stations G1 to G3 are installed in the order of the ground station G1, the ground station G2, and the ground station G3 from the incoming line direction of the train T (arrow A). The ground stations G1 to G3 are connected to the data delivery device 1 via a wired LAN (Local Area Network), and can be connected to the wireless device w via a wireless LAN. In other words, the ground stations G1 to G3 are equipped with a network interface for connecting via a wired LAN, a wireless communication antenna for connecting via a wireless LAN, and the like. Note that the antennas provided in the ground stations G1 to G3 are not limited to being directly installed on the ground. For example, it may be attached to a structure constructed on the ground such as a wall surface. In other words, the antennas of the ground stations G1 to G3 need not move.

A HUB device (not shown) is installed between the data distribution device 1 and the ground stations G1 to G3, distributes the data transmitted from the data distribution device 1, and receives the data from the ground stations G1 to G3. The obtained data is transmitted to the data delivery device 1 .

In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the train T is a 10-car train in which cars t1 to t10 are connected. The number of cars of the train T is not limited to 10 cars, and may be one car or more. Each of the vehicles t1 to t10 is equipped with two wireless devices w capable of communicating with the ground stations G1 to G3.

A wireless device w is a communication device capable of communicating with ground stations G1 to G3 via a wireless LAN. The wireless device w is set with the vehicle number information of the installed vehicle. Further, the wireless device w is not limited to being provided at one end in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle as shown in FIG. 1, but may be provided at both ends. Further, the number of wireless devices w provided in one car is not limited to two, and may be one, or may be three or more. Further, the installation position of the wireless device w in the vehicle is not particularly limited as long as it is a position that can communicate with the ground stations G1 to G3.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the system configuration in vehicle t1. Vehicles t2 to t10 have the same configuration. As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle t1 is provided with a wireless device w and an image display device 10 .

The image display device 10 is installed, for example, above a door in the passenger compartment of the vehicle t1. The image display device 10 stores the content information received by the wireless device w in an internal storage medium or the like.

FIG. 4 shows the functional configuration of the image display device 10. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the image display device 10 includes a power supply 11, an LCD signal converter 12, an LCD screen 13, an image display controller 14, and an SD card 15.

The power supply 11 receives a DC voltage of, for example, 100 V from the outside (vehicle t1), converts it to a DC voltage of, for example, 12 V, and then outputs it to the LCD signal conversion unit 12, the image display control unit 14, etc., and the image display device 10. Supply power voltage.

The LCD signal conversion unit 12 is connected to the image display control unit 14 by, for example, a DVI (Digital Visual Interface), and receives image information including content information read from the SD card 15 by the image display control unit 14 . Further, the LCD signal conversion unit 12 is connected to the LCD screen 13 by, for example, LVDS (Low voltage differential signaling), converts the image information input to the LCD signal conversion unit 12 into a signal defined by LVDS, and output to

The LCD screen 13 is composed of a liquid crystal display (LCD) and displays an image based on the signal input from the LCD signal converter 12 . That is, it functions as an image display section that displays image information as an image.

The image display control unit 14 is connected to the operation information display device 112 via, for example, an RS-485 interface. The image display control unit 14 also has a slot (not shown) into which the SD card 15 can be inserted and removed. The image display control unit 14 reads image information stored in the SD card 15 inserted into the slot. Image information to be displayed on the LCD screen 13 is read from the SD card 15 based on operation information input from the RS-485 interface, and if encoded, is decoded and output to the LCD signal conversion unit 12. .

As is well known, the SD card 15 is a card-shaped portable storage medium that contains a non-volatile semiconductor memory and is readable and writable. The SD card 15 stores content information and the like distributed from the data distribution device 1 . Default content information and the like may be stored in the SD card 15 in advance. In this embodiment, the SD card 15 is used as a portable storage medium, but the SD card is not limited to the SD card, and other types of memory cards may be used. good too. Also, content information may be stored in a built-in memory of the image display control unit 14 or a memory separately provided in the image display device 10 instead of the portable storage medium.

Next, the operation of the communication system 100 having the configuration described above will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG.

First, the data delivery device 1 transmits polling inquiry data to each wireless device w in order to detect the wireless device w installed in each car t1 to t10 of the train T (step S101). This inquiry data is periodically transmitted until the last vehicle is detected (steps S101 to S105). Although the number of times of polling is five in FIG. 5, it is needless to say that the number of times is not limited to five.

On the other hand, in the first polling (step S101), the radio w of the leading car t1 is not yet connected to any of the ground stations G1 to G3 because the train T has not yet entered the line. Does not respond to polling. Then, at time ti1, the train T begins to enter a communicable range with a ground station such as a garage.

At the time of the second polling (step S102), the train T has begun to enter the communicable range, and the radio w of the leading car t1 is connected to the ground station G1, for example. is transmitted to the data distribution device 1 (step S201). After that, the wireless device w of the leading vehicle t1 transmits a response to the polling inquiry to the data distribution device 1 (steps S202 to S204). This polling response includes the vehicle number information in which the wireless device w is installed. If the vehicle is the leading vehicle, "1" becomes the vehicle number. This vehicle number may be set in advance, for example, when the wireless device w is installed. Alternatively, it may be set in the SD card 15 or the like of the image display device 10 and acquired by the wireless device w.

The polling response from the wireless device w is received by the communication unit 4 of the data distribution device 1 and output to the processing unit 3 . Therefore, the processing unit 3 can acquire the vehicle number included in the polling response.

After that, as time passes and the train T enters the track, the cars after the second car t2 are also sequentially connected to one of the ground stations G1 to G3 by radio communication and transmit polling responses to the data distribution device 1. FIG. Then, the vehicle t10, which is the last vehicle, is connected to the ground station G1 for wireless communication, and transmits a polling response to the data distribution device 1 (step S301).

In the data distribution device 1, when the communication unit 4 receives the polling response from the last vehicle t10, the processing unit 3 selects the last vehicle from the vehicle number "10" included in the vehicle number information included in the polling response. is detected (step S106). The processing unit 3 of the data distribution device 1 is preset with a vehicle number indicating the end of the vehicle. Therefore, the processing unit 3 detects that the vehicle is the last vehicle by collating the received vehicle number with the vehicle number indicating the last vehicle. Since the vehicle number indicating the tail is set in advance in this way, it is possible to detect not only the largest vehicle number "10" but also the smallest vehicle number "1".

Next, in the data distribution device 1, the processing unit 3 waits at least until the train T stops at a predetermined position (stop position in a garage, etc.) (time ti2) after the tail car is detected (step S107). ). That is, it waits until the time required for the train T to stop at a predetermined position after detecting the last vehicle t10 has elapsed. This wait time is appropriately set according to the approach speed of the train T, the place where the train is stopped, the length of one train set, and the like. Since these parameters (approach speed, location, length, etc.) are known values, it is possible to preset the wait time.

Next, in the data distribution device 1, the processing unit 3 transmits a signal requesting resetting of connection to all the wireless devices w of the train T to the communication unit 4 (step S109). By this reset, the wireless device w temporarily disconnects from the ground stations G1 to G3 and reconnects to the ground station near each wireless device w.

Next, the data distribution device 1 waits for a predetermined time after the communication unit 4 transmits the reset request. This wait time is the time until the reconnection of the wireless device w reset in step S109 is completed. This wait time is appropriately set according to the specifications of the wireless device w and the ground stations G1 to G3. In this embodiment, the reconnection of the wireless device w is an operation between the wireless device w and the ground station, and the data distribution device 1 is not directly involved, so there is a predetermined time wait. If information indicating that a connection has been established is obtained, it is sufficient to wait until the information is obtained.

Then, the data distribution device 1 starts transmitting content information to the wireless device w (image display device 10) (step S110). In other words, updating of the content information stored in the SD card 15 or the like is started.

A specific example of the operation described in the above flowchart will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 6A to 6C are the same as FIG. 7 already described. In FIG. 6, after the last vehicle t10 is detected and the train T stops (FIG. 6(c)), a signal requesting resetting of the connection is transmitted to the wireless device w. When the reset request is transmitted, the wireless device w that has received it disconnects from the currently connected ground station and reconnects to a nearby ground station.

Note that although a reset request is transmitted in this embodiment, a signal (command) such as a reconnection request or a request to restart the wireless device w causes the wireless device w to once disconnect from the ground station and reconnect. etc.) is acceptable. Upon receiving these signals, the radio w disconnects from the ground station and reconnects to a nearby ground station. At this time, the wireless device w establishes a connection with the ground station detected by its own scanning or the like.

By transmitting a signal requesting resetting of the connection to the radio w, the communication speed of the radio w of the leading vehicle t1, the second vehicle t2, and the fifth vehicle t5 in FIG. 6(c) decreases. The connection state of the wireless device w that had been in the state of being reset is reset, and as shown in FIG. In general, a ground station closer to the wireless device w has a stronger radio wave intensity than a ground station farther away, and is thus easier to find. Therefore, in the case of FIG. 6, for example, the radio w of the leading vehicle t1 is connected to the ground station G1 located closer than the ground station G2.

Also, if the wireless device w has a function of detecting the strength of the received radio wave, after resetting the connection state, the wireless device w selects and connects to the wireless station with the strongest radio wave strength. can be

According to this embodiment, the data distribution device 1 is a communication device that wirelessly communicates with the radios w installed in the cars t1 to t10 that make up the train T. The vehicle number of the vehicle in which the wireless device w is installed is received, and the processing unit 3 detects the last vehicle in the train T based on the vehicle number received by the communication unit 4 . After detecting the last vehicle, the processing unit 3 causes the communication unit 4 to transmit a signal requesting the communication device to reset the connection. By doing so, it is possible to reset the radio communication after detecting the last car of the train. Therefore, it is possible to disconnect and reconnect the communication from the state in which the communication speed is lowered as shown in FIG. 6(c). It can be connected to station G3.

In addition, since the processing unit 3 is set with the vehicle number indicating the tail vehicle t10, it is possible to simplify the process of detecting the tail vehicle t10. In addition, the radio w installed in the train T does not need processing for detecting that it is the last train, and only needs to transmit the car number, which simplifies the configuration of the train T side. be able to.

Further, the processing unit 3 causes the communication unit 4 to transmit a signal requesting resetting of the connection after the time required for the train T to stop at a predetermined position after the detection of the last vehicle t10 has elapsed. The communication can be reconnected in a state where T is stopped and the positional relationship between the wireless device w of each vehicle and the ground stations G1 to G3 installed on the ground is fixed.

In addition, after transmitting the signal requesting resetting of the connection, the processing unit 3 causes the communication unit 4 to transmit the content information after reconnection with the wireless device w. Content information can be transmitted. Therefore, transmission of content information at a slow communication speed can be prevented.

In the above-described embodiment, the number of vehicles per train is fixed, but the data distribution device 1 has the number of vehicles for each train as a database, so that the last vehicle number can be specified. In this case, the polling response should include information that can identify each composition.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the data distribution device 1 transmits a signal requesting resetting of the connection. You can reconnect. For example, information indicating that the tail end has been detected may be transmitted to the wireless device w, and the wireless device w may temporarily disconnect and then reconnect. That is, the data distribution device 1 only needs to be able to reset the connection between the communication device (wireless device w) and the communication device (data distribution device 1) after detecting the last vehicle.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the train is a railroad vehicle that runs on a railroad track, but the train is not limited to a railroad vehicle. Examples include monorails, new transportation systems, cable cars, levitation railways, trolleybuses, etc., which travel along predetermined guidance routes and stop at predetermined stops or garages.

Moreover, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. That is, those skilled in the art can carry out various modifications according to conventionally known knowledge without departing from the gist of the present invention. As long as the configuration of the communication device and communication system of the present invention is provided even with such modifications, they are of course included in the scope of the present invention.

1 Data delivery device (communication device)
2 data input unit 3 processing unit (detection unit, communication control unit)
4 communication unit (receiving unit)
5 storage unit 100 communication system T train t1 to t10 vehicle w wireless device (communication device)

Claims (6)

A communication device that communicates via a wireless communication antenna installed on the ground with a communication device that is installed in each vehicle that constitutes a train and is capable of acquiring vehicle number information of the vehicle,
a receiving unit that receives the vehicle number from the communication device;
a detection unit that detects the last vehicle in the train based on the vehicle number received by the reception unit;
a communication control unit that resets the connection between the communication device and the communication device after the detection unit detects the last vehicle ,
The communication control unit transmits a signal indicating a reset of communication to the communication device after the time required for the train to stop at a predetermined position after the detecting unit detects the last car. do,
A communication device characterized by: 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle number indicating the last vehicle is set in the detection unit. 3. The communication control unit according to claim 1 , wherein after transmitting the signal indicating the reset of the communication, the communication control unit transmits information about predetermined content to the communication device after being reconnected to the communication device. Communication device as described. A communication system comprising a communication device installed in each car constituting a train and capable of acquiring car number information of the car, and a communication device communicating with the communication device via a wireless communication antenna installed on the ground. hand,
The communication device
a receiving unit that receives the vehicle number from the communication device;
a detection unit that detects the last vehicle in the train based on the vehicle number received by the reception unit;
a communication control unit that resets the connection between the communication device and the communication device after the detection unit detects the last vehicle ,
The communication control unit transmits a signal indicating a reset of communication to the communication device after the time required for the train to stop at a predetermined position after the detecting unit detects the last car. do,
A communication system characterized by: 5. The communication system according to claim 4, wherein the communication device reconnects after once disconnecting from the wireless communication antenna based on the signal indicating the reset of the communication. 6. The communication system according to claim 5, wherein said communication device reconnects to said wireless communication antenna having the strongest radio wave intensity.

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