JP7347561B2 - Vehicle position determination system, vehicle communication system - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure is a system that is installed and used in a vehicle, and which detects the location of a mobile terminal carried by a user by receiving a wireless signal transmitted from the mobile terminal using radio waves in a predetermined frequency band. The present invention relates to an estimating vehicle position determination system and a vehicle communication system used therein .

Patent Document 1 discloses an in-vehicle device that has a function as a vehicle position determination system that estimates the position of a mobile terminal with respect to the vehicle by performing wireless communication with a mobile terminal carried by a user of the vehicle. There is. Specifically, when the mobile terminal disclosed in Patent Document 1 receives a request signal requesting return of a response signal from a vehicle, it returns a response signal including the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) of the request signal. The in-vehicle device stores in its memory the RSSI included in the response signal sent back from the mobile terminal. Then, the in-vehicle device determines that the mobile terminal is present in the vehicle when the average value of the last five RSSIs stored in the memory exceeds a predetermined threshold. On the other hand, if the average value of the last five RSSIs is less than or equal to the threshold value, it is determined that the object exists outside the vehicle.

Note that the above-mentioned mobile terminal is a communication terminal equipped with a communication function using Bluetooth (registered trademark), and in Patent Document 1, a smartphone, a mobile phone, etc. are assumed as the mobile terminal. Accordingly, the in-vehicle device performs wireless communication based on Bluetooth (registered trademark). For convenience, hereinafter, communication based on a predetermined wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth, which has a communication range of, for example, several tens of meters, will be referred to as short-range communication.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-214316

The inventors tested the relationship between the reception strength of the signal transmitted from a mobile terminal at the in-vehicle device and the position of the mobile terminal in a configuration in which a short-range communication antenna was placed inside the vehicle. The following findings were obtained.

When the mobile terminal is located outside the vehicle, the reception intensity at the vehicle interior antenna (hereinafter referred to as vehicle interior strength) will certainly be at a relatively low level in many areas outside the vehicle. However, even if the mobile device is outside the vehicle, if the mobile device is near the window of the vehicle, signals from the mobile device can easily enter the vehicle interior through the window. The strength also tends to be at a relatively high level. In addition, even if the mobile device is inside the vehicle, multiple radio waves generated by multipath act to weaken each other, and the strength of the interior of the vehicle makes it difficult to locate the mobile device in other areas of the vehicle. There may be locations (hereinafter referred to as "drop points") where the drop is relatively greater than in the case of

In the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, if the threshold value for determining that the mobile terminal is present in the vehicle interior (hereinafter referred to as the determination threshold value) is set to a sufficiently small value, even if the mobile terminal is present at the drop point. It is possible to increase the possibility of determining that the vehicle is present in the vehicle interior. However, on the other hand, even if the mobile terminal actually exists outside the vehicle, there is an increased possibility that it will be incorrectly determined that the mobile terminal exists inside the vehicle.

Furthermore, if the determination threshold value is set to a sufficiently large value in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a risk that the possibility of erroneously determining that the mobile terminal is inside the vehicle when the mobile terminal is outside the vehicle will increase. However, even if the mobile terminal is present in the vehicle interior at a deterioration point or the like, there is an increased possibility that it will be erroneously determined that the mobile terminal is present outside the vehicle interior. In other words, with the configuration of Patent Document 1, it may be erroneously determined that the mobile terminal is located at a location different from the actual location.

The present disclosure has been made based on this situation, and its purpose is to provide a vehicle position determination system and a vehicle communication system that can reduce the risk of erroneously determining the location of a mobile terminal. It is in.

To achieve this objective, the vehicle position determination system of the present disclosure receives a wireless signal transmitted from a mobile terminal carried by a user using radio waves in a predetermined frequency band of 1 GHz or more. This is a vehicle position determination system that estimates the position of a mobile terminal by using a vehicle interior receiving unit (132) that receives a wireless signal transmitted from the mobile terminal via an interior antenna installed in the interior of the vehicle. , a vehicle interior intensity detection unit (133) that detects the reception strength of the radio signal received by the vehicle interior reception unit as the vehicle interior strength, and a vehicle exterior antenna (121) for receiving a radio signal arriving from outside the vehicle interior. , a vehicle exterior receiving unit (122) that receives a wireless signal transmitted from a mobile terminal via an exterior vehicle antenna, and a vehicle exterior intensity detection unit that detects the reception strength of the wireless signal received by the vehicle exterior receiving unit as vehicle exterior intensity. (123), and a position determination unit that determines whether or not the mobile terminal is present outside the vehicle based on the vehicle interior intensity detected by the vehicle interior intensity detection unit and the vehicle exterior intensity detected by the vehicle exterior intensity detection unit. (F5), the vehicle exterior antenna is located at a position above the lower end of the window on the outer surface of the pillar of the vehicle, and the vehicle interior antenna is located at the lower end of the window in the vehicle interior. It is located below the section.
In addition, the vehicle communication system for achieving the above purpose determines the position based on the reception status of a wireless signal transmitted from a mobile terminal carried by the user using radio waves in a predetermined frequency band of 1 GHz or more. A communication system used in connection with an in-vehicle electronic control unit, which is used as a communication device to receive wireless signals from a mobile terminal, at a position above the lower end of the window on the outer surface of the pillar of the vehicle. at least one communication device outside the vehicle (12), which is a communication device located at The communication device outside the vehicle and the communication device inside the vehicle each include an antenna for receiving a radio signal and a strength detection unit (133) for detecting the reception strength of the radio signal, and based on instructions from the vehicle electronic control device, It is configured to output data indicating the detected reception strength to the on-vehicle electronic control unit.

In the above configuration, the vehicle exterior antenna is placed near the window, which is a path for radio waves to pass from outside the vehicle interior into the vehicle interior. According to such a configuration, when a signal from a mobile terminal located outside the vehicle is received by the antenna inside the vehicle, there is a high possibility that the signal is also received by the antenna outside the vehicle. In addition, since the antenna outside the vehicle is closer to the mobile terminal than the antenna inside the vehicle, the strength outside the vehicle tends to be higher than the strength inside the vehicle. In other words, a reversal phenomenon in which the strength inside the vehicle becomes higher than the strength outside the vehicle is unlikely to occur even though the mobile terminal is located outside the vehicle.

The above effect is the same even when the mobile terminal is located outside the vehicle near the window. Based on the above configuration, the position determination unit determines whether or not the mobile terminal exists outside the vehicle based on the intensity within the vehicle interior and the intensity outside the vehicle interior. According to such a configuration, it is possible to reduce the possibility of erroneously determining that the mobile terminal is present in the vehicle interior even though the mobile terminal is present outside the vehicle interior.

Note that the numerals in parentheses described in the claims indicate correspondence with specific means described in the embodiments described later as one aspect, and limit the technical scope of the present disclosure. isn't it.

1 is a conceptual diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication system 100 according to the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a vehicle Hv. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an in-vehicle system 10. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle exterior communication device 12. FIG. FIG. 3 is a conceptual top view of the vehicle Hv for explaining the mounting position of the vehicle exterior communication device 12. FIG. FIG. 2 is a conceptual side view of the vehicle Hv for explaining the mounting position of the vehicle exterior communication device 12. FIG. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the configuration of a mounting portion of the vehicle exterior communication device 12. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an in-vehicle communication device 13. FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of an authentication ECU 11. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the first comparison configuration. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the effects of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the effects of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the second comparison configuration. It is a figure which shows an example of the body shape when the characteristic of the 2nd comparison structure appears conspicuously. It is a figure which shows the modification of the attachment position of the vehicle exterior communication device 12. It is a figure which shows the modification of the attachment position of the vehicle exterior communication device 12. It is a figure which shows the modification of the attachment position of the vehicle exterior communication device 12. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the mounting posture of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 using a directional antenna.

[Embodiment]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described using figures. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a communication system 100 according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 100 includes an in-vehicle system 10 mounted on a vehicle Hv, and a mobile terminal 90 that is a communication terminal carried by a user of the vehicle Hv.

The mobile terminal 90 is a communication terminal that has a function of performing communication (hereinafter referred to as short-range communication) in accordance with a predetermined short-range wireless communication standard that can set the communication distance to 10 meters or more. As the short-range wireless communication standard here, for example, Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth is a registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), etc. can be adopted. According to these short-range wireless communication standards, the communication distance can be set up to about 100 meters. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the mobile terminal 90 and the in-vehicle system 10 are configured to communicate in accordance with the Bluetooth Low Energy standard.

Note that the mobile terminal 90 and the in-vehicle system 10 may be configured to perform wireless communication using impulse signals used in ultra wide band (UWB) communication. The impulse signal used in UWB communication is a signal that has an extremely short pulse width (for example, 2 ns) and a bandwidth of 500 MHz or more (that is, ultra-wide bandwidth). Frequency bands that can be used for UWB communication (hereinafter referred to as UWB bands) include 3.1 GHz to 16 GHz, 3.4 GHz to 4.8 GHz, 7.25 GHz to 16 GHz, and 22 GHz to 29 GHz.

The standard for wireless communication between the mobile terminal 90 and the in-vehicle system 10 and the frequency of radio waves used for wireless communication (hereinafter referred to as system radio waves) may be selected as appropriate. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the mobile terminal 90 and the in-vehicle system 10 communicate using radio waves in the 2.4 GHz band, but the present invention is not limited to this. As another aspect, the radio waves used by the system may be radio waves of 2.5 GHz to 10 GHz, as described above. Moreover, a radio wave of less than 2.4 GHz may be used. From the viewpoint of data transmission efficiency, the frequency of radio waves used by the system is preferably 1 GHz or more.

The mobile terminal 90 only needs to have the function of implementing the above-mentioned short-range communication, and for example, a smartphone can be used as the mobile terminal 90. Of course, the mobile terminal 90 may be a tablet terminal, a wearable device, a portable music player, a portable game machine, a wireless tag, or the like. A general-purpose communication terminal can be employed as the mobile terminal 90. Furthermore, the mobile terminal 90 may be a communication device (a so-called vehicle portable device) having a function as a key for the vehicle Hv.

The mobile terminal 90 notifies (that is, advertises) its own existence to surrounding communication terminals equipped with a short-range communication function by wirelessly transmitting communication packets containing source information at predetermined transmission intervals. . The source information is, for example, identification information (hereinafter referred to as terminal ID) assigned to the mobile terminal 90. The terminal ID functions as information for identifying the mobile terminal 90 from other communication terminals.

Hereinafter, for convenience, communication packets that are periodically transmitted for the purpose of advice will be referred to as advertisement packets. Note that the transmission interval of advertisement packets may be a constant value (for example, 100 milliseconds) or may be variable depending on the operating status of the mobile terminal 90. For example, when a predetermined application that uses a short-range communication function is running in the foreground in the mobile terminal 90, the transmission interval is set to a relatively short time (for example, 50 milliseconds). On the other hand, if the application is not running in the foreground, the transmission interval is set to a relatively long time (200 milliseconds).

The in-vehicle system 10 also has the above-mentioned short-range communication function, and by receiving a signal (for example, an advertisement packet) transmitted from the mobile terminal 90, the mobile terminal 90 can perform short-range communication with the in-vehicle system 10. Detect existence within range. Hereinafter, the range in which the in-vehicle system 10 can communicate with the mobile terminal 90 over short distances will also be referred to as a vehicle communication area.

Note that the in-vehicle system 10 transmits a signal (hereinafter referred to as a response request signal) requesting the mobile terminal 90 to return a response signal at a predetermined timing, and receives the response signal from the mobile terminal 90. may be configured to detect that the vehicle is within the vehicle communication area of the in-vehicle system 10. In that case, when the mobile terminal 90 receives a response request signal transmitted from the in-vehicle system 10, it is assumed that the mobile terminal 90 returns a response signal by short-range communication. As a more preferable aspect, it is assumed that the signal transmitted by the mobile terminal 90 includes transmission source information.

<About the configuration of vehicle Hv>
First, the configuration of the vehicle Hv will be explained using FIG. 2. Here, as an example, the vehicle Hv is a private car, but in other embodiments, it may be a taxi, a bus, a truck, or the like. It may be a vehicle whose main purpose is other than transporting passengers.

Various body panels included in the vehicle Hv are realized using metal members. The body panel here is a group of parts that provides the external shape of the vehicle Hv. Body panels include side body panels assembled to the body shell, roof panels, rear end panels, bonnet panels, door panels, pillars, etc. Hereinafter, a configuration formed by combining various body panels will be referred to as a body 21.
Since metal plates have the property of reflecting radio waves, the body panel of the vehicle Hv reflects the radio waves used by the system. That is, the vehicle Hv includes a body 21 that blocks straight propagation of radio waves used by the system. Note that the body shell itself may be realized using a metal member such as a steel plate, or may be formed using a carbon-based resin. Here, as a more preferred embodiment, the body shell is also made of metal.

Furthermore, although the blocking here ideally refers to reflection, it is not limited to this. A configuration that can attenuate system-used radio waves to a predetermined level (hereinafter referred to as a target attenuation level) or more corresponds to a configuration that blocks propagation of system-used radio waves. The target attenuation level may be a value that causes a significant difference in the signal strength of radio waves between the inside and outside of the vehicle, and is set to, for example, 5 dB. Various body panels constituting the body 21 of the vehicle Hv may be formed using carbon-based resin. However, in that case, the carbon-based resin used as the material of the body shall have a composition filled with enough carbon to attenuate the propagation of radio waves used in the system by 5 dB or more.

Furthermore, even if the body panel of the vehicle Hv is formed using a general-purpose resin that does not contain carbon, a specific metal pattern is provided on the surface of the body panel that functions to block the propagation of radio waves used by the system. It is sufficient if the configuration is such that the propagation of radio waves used by the system is blocked by this. The metal pattern (hereinafter referred to as a shield pattern) that functions to block the propagation of radio waves used in the system is a pattern in which thin wire conductors such as silver nanowires are arranged in a grid pattern at intervals of 12 wavelengths or less of the radio waves used in the system. Here, the thin line refers to a line having a line width of 50 μm or less.

Further, the shield pattern can be realized using a well-known meta-surface structure. A meta-surface structure is a structure in which artificial structures called unit cells are repeatedly arranged. According to the meta-surface structure, it is possible to selectively reflect or attenuate (that is, block) only radio waves in a specific frequency band (here, radio waves used by the system). Further, the body 21 of the vehicle Hv may be configured to block propagation of radio waves used by the system by coating a paint containing metal powder or carbon powder on the body made of a general-purpose resin. Furthermore, a film (hereinafter referred to as a shield film) that blocks propagation of radio waves used by the system may be attached to the body 21.

Further, the vehicle Hv has a roof portion 23 provided by a roof panel, and includes a plurality of pillars that are members for supporting the roof panel. The plurality of pillars are called, in order from the front end to the rear end, an A pillar, a B pillar, and a C pillar. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the vehicle Hv is a vehicle having a front seat and a rear seat, and includes an A pillar 24A, a B pillar 24B, and a C pillar 24C as pillars.
The A-pillar 24A is a pillar provided in front of the front seat. In other words, the A-pillar 24A is a pillar disposed diagonally in front of the driver and passenger seats. The B pillar 24B is a pillar provided between the front seat and the rear seat. The C-pillar 24C is a pillar provided diagonally behind the rear seat. In addition, as another aspect, the vehicle Hv may include a D pillar that is the fourth pillar from the front or an E pillar that is the fifth pillar from the front. Part or all of each pillar is realized using a metal member such as a high-tensile steel plate. In addition, as another aspect, the pillar may be made of carbon fiber or resin. Furthermore, it may be realized by combining various materials.

In this way, in the vehicle Hv as a whole, when all the doors are closed, the radio waves used by the system do not enter the vehicle interior from outside the vehicle through the window portion 22, or leak from the vehicle interior to the exterior of the vehicle. is configured to do so. In other words, the window portion 22 is configured to act as a passage for radio waves used in the system. The window portion 22 here is a front window, a window provided on a side surface of the vehicle Hv (so-called side window), a rear window, or the like.

In addition, as another aspect, a window glass provided on a door or the like of the vehicle Hv may also be configured to block straight propagation of radio waves used in the system. The window glass here is a transparent member disposed in the window portion 22 provided in the vehicle Hv, and strictly speaking, the material thereof does not have to be glass. For example, it may be realized using acrylic resin or the like. That is, the window glass here is a transparent member that functions as a windshield.

<About the configuration of the in-vehicle system 10>
Next, the electrical configuration and operation of the in-vehicle system 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the in-vehicle system 10 includes an authentication ECU 11, an exterior communication device 12, an interior communication device 13, a touch sensor 14, a lock button 15, a start button 16, a body ECU 17, and an engine ECU 18. Note that ECU in the component names is an abbreviation for Electronic Control Unit and means an electronic control device. The in-vehicle system 10 corresponds to a vehicle position determination system.

The vehicle exterior communication device 12, the vehicle interior communication device 13, the body ECU 17, and the engine ECU 18 are each connected to the authentication ECU 11 via a communication network built in the vehicle or a dedicated signal line to enable bidirectional communication. There is. Further, the touch sensor 14, the start button 16, and the lock button 15 are each configured so that output signals are directly or indirectly input to the authentication ECU 11.

The authentication ECU 11 roughly estimates the position of the mobile terminal 90 with respect to the vehicle Hv by cooperation (in other words, cooperation) with other components such as the vehicle exterior communication device 12, and performs vehicle control according to the estimation result. This is an ECU that implements the following. This authentication ECU 11 is realized using a computer. That is, the authentication ECU 11 includes a CPU 111, a RAM 112, a flash memory 113, and the like. The CPU 111 is an arithmetic processing device that executes various arithmetic processing. The RAM 112 is a volatile storage medium, and the flash memory 113 is a rewritable nonvolatile storage medium.

In the flash memory 113, a terminal ID assigned to the mobile terminal 90 owned by the user is registered. For convenience, hereinafter, the terminal ID registered in the flash memory 113 as the terminal ID of the mobile terminal 90 will also be referred to as a registered ID. Further, the flash memory 113 stores a program (hereinafter referred to as a position determination program) for causing a normal computer to function as the authentication ECU 11, and the like. Note that the above-described position determination program may be stored in a non-transitive tangible storage medium. Execution of the position determination program by the CPU 111 corresponds to execution of a method corresponding to the position determination program.

Details of this authentication ECU 11 will be described separately later. Note that even when the power source for running the vehicle Hv (for example, the ignition power source) is turned off, the authentication ECU 11 is supplied with sufficient power from the on-board battery to perform the position determination process described later. It is configured.

The vehicle exterior communication device 12 is a communication module for short-range communication with a mobile terminal 90 located outside the vehicle interior. As shown in FIG. 4 as more detailed components, the vehicle exterior communication device 12 includes a vehicle exterior antenna 121, a transmitting/receiving section 122, an intensity detecting section 123, and a communication microcomputer 124. The vehicle exterior antenna 121 is an antenna for transmitting and receiving radio waves in a frequency band used for communication with the mobile terminal 90 (that is, system use radio waves). In this embodiment, as an example, the vehicle exterior antenna 121 is an antenna (a so-called omnidirectional antenna) that provides omnidirectionality (in other words, isotropy) in a predetermined plane determined with respect to the attitude of the antenna element. As another aspect, the vehicle exterior antenna 121 may have directivity. It is assumed that the omnidirectional antenna serving as the vehicle exterior antenna 121 is arranged in a posture that provides omnidirectionality in the horizontal plane of the vehicle. The vehicle horizontal plane is a plane perpendicular to the height direction of the vehicle Hv.

The transmitter/receiver 122 demodulates the signal received by the vehicle exterior antenna 121 and provides it to the communication microcomputer 124 . Further, the signal inputted from the authentication ECU 11 via the communication microcomputer 124 is modulated, outputted to the vehicle exterior antenna 121, and radiated as radio waves. The transmitting/receiving section 122 corresponds to a receiving section outside the vehicle interior. The communication area for the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is determined by the amplification factor of the received signal and the transmission power of the transmitted signal.
The communication area of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 corresponds to the range in which communication is possible with the mobile terminal 90. In other words, the communication area of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is defined as a region in which a signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 90 can be received by the vehicle exterior communication device 12 at a level that can be demodulated, and a signal transmitted by the vehicle exterior communication device 12 can be received by the mobile terminal. This is the range that can be reached while maintaining the strength that can be demodulated at 90. The larger the transmission power and the amplification factor of the received signal, the larger the communication area of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 becomes. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is configured such that the communication area is within 10 m from the vehicle exterior antenna 121.

The strength detection unit 123 is configured to sequentially output data (so-called RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indication) indicating the strength of the signal received by the transmitting/receiving unit 122 via the vehicle exterior antenna 121. The intensity detected by the intensity detection unit 123 (hereinafter referred to as reception intensity) is sequentially provided to the communication microcomputer 124 in association with the terminal ID included in the received data. Note that the reception strength may be expressed, for example, in the unit of power [dBm]. For convenience, data in which reception strength and terminal ID are associated will be referred to as reception strength data. The intensity detection section 123 corresponds to an outside intensity detection section.

The communication microcomputer 124 is a microcomputer that controls data exchange with the authentication ECU 11, and is realized using an MPU, a RAM, or the like. The communication microcomputer 124 provides the received data input from the transmitter/receiver 122 to the authentication ECU 11 sequentially or based on a request from the authentication ECU 11. That is, the data received by the transmitter/receiver 122 is provided to the authentication ECU 11 via the communication microcomputer 124.

Furthermore, when the communication microcomputer 124 acquires reception strength data from the strength detection unit 123, it accumulates it in a RAM (not shown). The reception strength data acquired sequentially may be sorted in chronological order and stored in the RAM, for example, so that the reception strength of the latest reception data is at the top. Data that has been stored for a certain period of time may be sequentially discarded. In other words, the reception strength data is held in the RAM for a certain period of time. The communication microcomputer 124 provides reception strength data stored in the RAM based on a request from the authentication ECU 11. Note that the reception strength data provided to the authentication ECU 11 may be deleted from the RAM. The storage period of reception strength data in the communication microcomputer 124 may be designed as appropriate.

In this embodiment, the reception strength data output by the transmitting/receiving section 122 is temporarily held in the RAM, and the communication microcomputer 124 provides the reception strength data stored in the RAM to the authentication ECU 11 based on a request from the authentication ECU 11. However, it is not limited to this. The reception strength data may be sequentially provided to the authentication ECU 11.

At least one exterior communication device 12 having the above configuration is arranged at a predetermined position on the outer surface of the vehicle Hv so as to form a predetermined communication area outside the vehicle interior. The outer surface portion herein refers to a body portion of the vehicle Hv that is in contact with the outside space of the vehicle, and includes a side surface portion, a rear surface portion, and a front portion of the vehicle Hv. Here, as an example, the in-vehicle system 10 includes a left side communication device 12A and a right side communication device 12B as the vehicle exterior communication device 12, as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the left side communication device 12A is disposed in the middle part of the B-pillar 24B located on the left side of the vehicle, on the outside surface of the vehicle interior, so that the left side of the vehicle Hv is within line of sight. The surface on the outside of the vehicle interior is a surface facing in the direction in which the space outside the vehicle interior exists when viewed from the vehicle interior. In addition, in order to clearly indicate the position of the left side communication device 12A in FIGS. 5 and 6, its size is exaggerated and hatched.

The middle portion of the B-pillar 24B corresponds to a portion located in the middle when the B-pillar 24B is divided into three equal parts in the vehicle height direction. The area within line of sight for the left side communication device 12A is an area where the signal transmitted by the left side communication device 12A can directly reach. Furthermore, since the propagation path of a radio signal is reversible, the line-of-sight area for the left side communication device 12A corresponds to an area where the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 90 can be directly received. do. Note that the area where the wireless signal directly reaches is an area where the wireless signal can reach in a substantially straight line, and also includes an area where the wireless signal can reach the wireless signal by passing through an object such as glass.

By the way, the B pillar 24B is realized by a metal member. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, there is a metal body on the rear side, which is the inside of the vehicle when viewed from the left side communication device 12A. As a result, most of the interior space of the vehicle is out of line of sight for the left side communication device 12A, making it difficult to receive signals from the mobile terminal 90 present in the vehicle interior.
The non-line-of-sight area for the left side communication device 12A is an area where the signal transmitted by the left side communication device 12A does not directly reach. From another perspective, out of line of sight for the left side communication device 12A corresponds to an area where the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 90 cannot be directly received because the propagation path of the wireless signal is reversible. . Note that even if the mobile terminal 90 is out of line of sight of the left side communication device 12A, the signals transmitted from the mobile terminal 90 may reach the left side communication device 12A by being reflected by various structures. There is.

The right side communication device 12B is the vehicle exterior communication device 12 that forms a pair with the left side communication device 12A. The right side communication device 12B is arranged on the right side surface of the vehicle Hv at a position opposite to the left side communication device 12A. That is, in the middle portion of the B-pillar 24B on the right side of the vehicle, it is arranged on the surface of the B-pillar 24B on the outside of the vehicle interior so that the right side of the vehicle Hv is within line of sight. As described above, by providing the left side communication device 12A and the right side communication device 12B as the vehicle exterior communication device 12, the in-vehicle system 10 forms a communication area outside the vehicle interior centered on the side area of the vehicle Hv.

The in-vehicle communication device 13 is also a communication module for short-range communication with the mobile terminal 90. However, while the above-mentioned vehicle exterior communication device 12 is a communication module whose purpose is to perform short-range communication with a mobile terminal 90 existing outside the vehicle interior, the vehicle interior communication device 13 is a mobile terminal located inside the vehicle interior. This is a communication module whose purpose is to communicate with 90. Accordingly, the vehicle interior communication device 13 is different from the vehicle exterior communication device 12 in the installation position and the like.

At least one in-vehicle communication device 13 is provided in the vehicle interior so that the interior space of the vehicle serves as a communication area. Similar to the communication area for the vehicle exterior communication device 12, the communication area for the vehicle interior communication device 13 corresponds to a range in which communication is possible with the mobile terminal 90. The above-mentioned vehicle communication area is an area formed by combining a communication area formed by a plurality of vehicle exterior communication devices 12 and a communication area formed by at least one vehicle interior communication device 13.

In this embodiment, as an example, it is assumed that the vehicle interior communication device 13 is arranged near the center console so that the communication area covers the entire interior space of the vehicle. Of course, the installation position of the vehicle interior communication device 13 is not limited to this. The in-vehicle communication device 13 may be placed near the center of the instrument panel in the vehicle width direction at a position that is approximately the same height as the door handle. Moreover, the vehicle interior communication device 13 may be arranged near the boundary between the center console and the instrument panel. Alternatively, it may be placed, for example, at the foot of the driver's seat or on the side of the door for the driver's seat on the inside of the vehicle. Further, the vehicle interior communication device 13 may be arranged at the center of the ceiling portion of the vehicle interior. Note that a plurality of in-vehicle communication devices 13 may be provided in the vehicle interior. For example, the vehicle may include an in-vehicle communication device 13 for the front seats and an in-vehicle communication device 13 for the rear seats. The in-vehicle communication device 13 for the rear seat may be placed inside the rear seat.

The specific configuration of the vehicle interior communication device 13 as a communication module can be the same as that of the vehicle exterior communication device 12. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the in-vehicle communication device 13 includes, as more detailed components, an antenna (hereinafter referred to as an in-vehicle antenna) 131 for transmitting and receiving radio waves used in the system, a transmitting/receiving section 132, an intensity detecting section 133, and a communication microcomputer. 134. The functions of these various configurations are the same as those included in the vehicle exterior communication device 12, so description thereof will be omitted. The reception strength detected by the strength detection unit 133 is provided to the authentication ECU 11 via the communication microcomputer 134. The transmitting/receiving section 132 corresponds to an in-vehicle receiving section. The intensity detection section 123 corresponds to a vehicle interior intensity detection section.

For convenience, in the following, when the outside communication device 12 and the inside communication device 13 are not distinguished, they will also be referred to as communication devices. The transmitting/receiving units 122 and 132 are also referred to as transmitting/receiving units unless they are distinguished from each other. The same applies to the intensity detection units 123 and 133 and the communication microcomputers 124 and 134. Furthermore, when not distinguishing between the vehicle exterior antenna 121 and the vehicle interior antenna 131, they are referred to as antennas.

The touch sensor 14 is installed on each door handle of the vehicle Hv, and detects that the user is touching the door handle. The detection results of each touch sensor 14 are sequentially output to the authentication ECU 11. The lock button 15 is a button for the user to lock the door of the vehicle Hv. It may be provided on the handle of each door of the vehicle Hv. When the lock button 15 is pressed by the user, it outputs an electric signal indicating this to the authentication ECU 11.
The start button 16 is a push switch that allows the user to start a drive source (for example, an engine). When the start button 16 is pushed by the user, it outputs an electric signal indicating this to the authentication ECU 11. Here, as an example, the vehicle Hv is a vehicle equipped with an engine as a power source, but the present invention is not limited to this. Vehicle Hv may be an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. When the vehicle Hv is a vehicle equipped with a motor as a drive source, the start button 16 is a switch for starting the drive motor.

The body ECU 17 is an ECU that controls various actuators mounted on the vehicle Hv based on signals input from various on-vehicle sensors and the authentication ECU 11. The in-vehicle sensor here is a courtesy switch or the like arranged in each door. A courtesy switch is a sensor that detects opening and closing of a door. For example, the body ECU 17 locks or unlocks each door by outputting a predetermined control signal to a door lock motor that constitutes a locking mechanism for each door based on instructions from the authentication ECU 11. The engine ECU 18 is an ECU that controls the operation of the engine mounted on the vehicle Hv.

<About the functions of the authentication ECU 11>
Next, the functions of the authentication ECU 11 will be explained using FIG. The authentication ECU 11 provides functions corresponding to various functional blocks shown in FIG. 9 when the CPU 111 executes the position determination program described above. That is, the authentication ECU 11 includes a vehicle information acquisition section F1, a transmission processing section F2, a reception processing section F3, a reception strength acquisition section F4, a position determination section F5, and a vehicle control section F6 as functional blocks.

Note that some or all of the functions included in the authentication ECU 11 may be realized as hardware using a logic circuit or the like. The aspect realized as hardware also includes the aspect realized using one or more ICs. Moreover, some or all of the functional blocks included in the authentication ECU 11 may be realized by a combination of software execution by the CPU 111 and hardware components.

The vehicle information acquisition unit F1 acquires various information (hereinafter referred to as vehicle information) indicating the state of the vehicle Hv from various sensors and devices (for example, the touch sensor 14) mounted on the vehicle Hv. The vehicle information includes, for example, whether a door handle is touched, whether the start button 16 is pressed, whether the lock button 15 is pressed or not, and the like.

Note that the information included in the vehicle information is not limited to what is described above. The vehicle information also includes a shift position detected by a shift position sensor (not shown) and a detection result of a brake sensor that detects whether the brake pedal is depressed. The vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit F1 is saved in the RAM 112 or the like with a time stamp indicating the acquisition time. Note that the vehicle information may be stored in the flash memory 113.

The transmission processing unit F2 generates data addressed to the mobile terminal 90 and outputs it to at least one of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 and the vehicle interior communication device 13. This causes a signal corresponding to the desired data to be transmitted as radio waves. For example, the transmission processing unit F2 generates a response request signal based on a request from a reception strength acquisition unit F4, which will be described later, and causes each communication device to transmit the response request signal. The reception processing unit F3 is configured to acquire reception data from each of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 and the vehicle interior communication device 13.

The reception strength acquisition unit F4 is configured to acquire reception strength data from each of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 and the vehicle interior communication device 13. The reception strength acquisition unit F4 of this embodiment requests the transmission processing unit F2 to transmit a response request signal at a predetermined sampling period. As a result, a response request signal is periodically transmitted from each communication device at a predetermined sampling period.

Further, the reception strength acquisition unit F4 requests each communication device to provide reception strength data at a timing when a predetermined response waiting time has elapsed after requesting transmission of the response request signal. The response waiting time is a parameter determined according to the time required from when the transmission processing unit F2 transmits the response request signal until the reception processing unit F3 receives the response signal from the mobile terminal 90.
If the reception strength data provided from the vehicle exterior communication device 12 includes the reception strength of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 90, the reception strength acquisition unit F4 determines the reception strength as the vehicle exterior strength. Save it in RAM112. Note that the reception strength data acquired from the left side communication device 12A and the reception strength data acquired from the right side communication device 12B may be stored separately.

Similarly, if the reception strength data provided from the in-vehicle communication device 13 includes the reception strength of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 90, the reception strength acquisition unit F4 determines the reception strength. It is stored in the RAM 112 as the vehicle interior strength. That is, the reception strength at each communication device (in other words, each antenna) is treated separately for each communication device. The reception strength acquisition unit F4 corresponds to a configuration that acquires the reception strength of the signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 90 at each antenna.

Note that whether the reception strength of a certain reception signal is the reception strength of a signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 90 is determined based on the terminal ID and registration ID associated with the reception strength. Can be done. The reception strength of signals from sources other than the mobile terminal 90 may be discarded. The process of discarding the reception strength of signals from sources other than the mobile terminal 90 may be performed within the communication device. In that case, it is assumed that the terminal ID of the mobile terminal 90 is also registered in the communication device. If a plurality of mobile terminals 90 are registered in the in-vehicle system 10 and reception strengths from the plurality of mobile terminals 90 can be acquired, the reception strength acquisition unit F4 acquires the reception strength of each mobile terminal 90. The reception strength may be stored separately for each terminal ID.

The position determination unit F5 is configured to determine the position of the mobile terminal 90 based on the reception strength of the mobile terminal 90 acquired by the reception strength acquisition unit F4. For example, the position determination section F5 compares the intensity outside the vehicle cabin acquired by the reception intensity acquisition section F4 with the intensity inside the vehicle interior, and if the intensity outside the vehicle cabin is higher than the intensity inside the vehicle interior, the mobile terminal 90 is located outside the vehicle interior. Then it is determined. On the other hand, if the intensity inside the vehicle is higher than the intensity outside the vehicle, it is determined that the mobile terminal 90 is present in the vehicle interior. The determination result of the position determination section F5 is provided to the vehicle control section F6.

Note that if both the left side communication device 12A and the right side communication device 12B are able to receive the signal from the mobile terminal 90, the higher value of the plurality of vehicle exterior intensities corresponding to each vehicle exterior communication device 12 is used. may be used as a comparison target with the interior strength of the vehicle. The case where both the left side communication device 12A and the right side communication device 12B are able to receive the signal from the mobile terminal 90 means that the outside intensity at each of the plurality of outside communication devices 12 can be obtained as the outside intensity. This corresponds to the case where
In addition, in this embodiment, as an example, the authentication ECU 11 acquires the reception strength of the response signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 90 by transmitting the response request signal, and performs the position determination process using the reception strength. However, it is not limited to this. When the mobile terminal 90 is configured to sequentially transmit a predetermined signal (for example, an advertise packet), the position of the mobile terminal 90 is determined using the reception strength of the periodically transmitted signal. Good too.

The vehicle control unit F6 is configured to perform vehicle control according to the user's operation based on the determination result of the position determining unit F5 and the user's operation on the vehicle Hv. For example, when the doors of the vehicle Hv are locked and the position determination unit F5 determines that the mobile terminal 90 is located outside the vehicle, the vehicle control unit F6 uses the touch sensor 14 to control the user's steering wheel. If a touch operation is detected, the door is unlocked in cooperation with the door lock motor. Further, for example, if the start button 16 is pressed by the user when the engine is stopped and the position determination unit F5 determines that the mobile terminal 90 is present in the vehicle interior, the mobile terminal 90 is activated in cooperation with the engine ECU 18. and start the engine. In addition, the details of the vehicle control performed by the vehicle control unit F6 may be appropriately designed in accordance with the user's operation details and the state of the vehicle Hv.

In addition, it is preferable that the result of carrying out the authentication of whether a user is a regular user is also used separately as an execution condition of vehicle control. In other words, it is preferable to perform vehicle control only when user authentication is successful. The user authentication itself may be performed using biometric information such as the user's fingerprint, iris, or vein pattern. Alternatively, the user may be authenticated indirectly by authenticating the mobile terminal 90 without directly authenticating the user himself. Authentication of the mobile terminal 90 via wireless communication may be performed in accordance with a well-known method such as a challenge-response method. The function of authenticating a user (hereinafter referred to as user authentication function) may be provided in the authentication ECU 11 or may be provided in another ECU.

<About the effects of this embodiment>
Here, the effects of this embodiment will be explained by introducing the first comparison configuration. The first comparison configuration here is similar to Patent Document 1, in which it is determined whether or not the mobile terminal 90 is present outside the vehicle by comparing the reception strength at the vehicle interior communication device and one determination threshold value. The configuration is as follows. In the first comparison configuration, it is determined that the mobile terminal is present in the vehicle interior when the vehicle interior intensity is equal to or higher than the determination threshold, and the mobile terminal is determined to be present outside the vehicle interior when the average RSSI intensity is less than the determination threshold. Then it is determined.
In such a first comparison configuration, if the setting value of the determination threshold value is too low, there is a high possibility that it will be erroneously determined that the mobile terminal is inside the vehicle even though it is actually outside the vehicle. For example, if the determination threshold value is set to a value low enough to determine that the mobile terminal is present in the vehicle interior in all areas of the vehicle interior, as shown in FIG. Nevertheless, there are some points where it is incorrectly determined that the object exists inside the vehicle. On the other hand, if the setting value of the determination threshold value is too high in the first comparison configuration, there is a high possibility that it will be erroneously determined that the mobile terminal exists outside the vehicle interior, even though the mobile terminal actually exists inside the vehicle interior. Therefore, in the first comparison configuration, it is necessary to take these circumstances into consideration and set the determination threshold to a value that is unlikely to cause erroneous determination.

On the other hand, according to the configuration of this embodiment, it is determined whether the mobile terminal 90 is present in the vehicle interior by comparing the vehicle interior strength and the vehicle exterior strength. In other words, it is not necessary to set a determination threshold. Therefore, there is no difficulty in designing the determination threshold value.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is placed near the window frame, that is, along the path of radio waves from outside the vehicle interior to the interior of the vehicle interior. If it is received by the indoor communication device 13, there is a high possibility that it will also be received by the vehicle exterior communication device 12. In addition, since the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is closer to the mobile terminal 90 than the vehicle interior communication device 13, the vehicle exterior strength tends to be higher than the vehicle interior strength.

Note that the case where the signal from the mobile terminal 90 existing outside the vehicle interior is received by the vehicle interior communication device 13 is the case where the mobile terminal 90 is present near the window 22 outside the vehicle interior, as shown in FIG. . Specifically, this is the case, for example, when a user who stores the mobile terminal 90 in the chest pocket of his clothes is standing near the door. In other words, when the user puts his hand on the door handle with the mobile terminal 90 stored in the chest pocket of his clothes, the signal from the mobile terminal 90 located outside the vehicle is received by the vehicle interior communication device 13. Easy to use.

However, as mentioned above, since the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is closer to the mobile terminal 90 than the vehicle interior communication device 13, there is a case where a signal from the mobile terminal 90 located outside the vehicle is received by the vehicle interior communication device 13. Even if there is, the strength outside the vehicle will be higher than the strength inside the vehicle. In other words, it is possible to reduce the possibility of an erroneous determination if the mobile terminal 90 is present in the vehicle interior even though it is present outside the vehicle interior.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 12, when the user carries the mobile terminal 90 in a manner in which the mobile terminal 90 is located below the lower end of the window section 22, the mobile terminal 90 may be placed out of line of sight of the in-vehicle communication device 13. Since the mobile terminal 90 is present, the in-vehicle communication device 13 cannot directly receive the signal from the mobile terminal 90. When the mobile terminal 90 is located below the lower end of the window section 22 outside the vehicle, the signal from the mobile terminal 90 that the vehicle interior communication device 13 receives is a signal received from the vehicle interior side surface of the roof section 23, etc. This is a reflected signal (hereinafter referred to as reflected wave).

On the other hand, the vehicle exterior communication device 12 can directly receive a wireless signal from the mobile terminal 90 even if the mobile terminal 90 is located below the lower end of the window section 22 outside the vehicle interior. It is. Note that the mode of directly receiving the wireless signal from the mobile terminal 90 also includes the mode of receiving it through the human body or clothing. Naturally, the received strength of a signal that propagates directly without being reflected by another object (hereinafter referred to as a direct wave) is greater than the received strength of a signal that is reflected by another object (that is, a reflected wave). There is expected. Furthermore, since the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is placed near the window frame, that is, along the radio wave path from outside the vehicle interior to the vehicle interior, the signal from the mobile terminal 90 located outside the vehicle interior is transmitted to the vehicle interior communication device 13. If received, there is a high possibility that the outside communication device 12 will also receive it.

Therefore, even if the user carries the mobile terminal 90 in a manner in which the mobile terminal 90 is located below the lower end of the window section 22, as shown in FIG. It is possible to reduce the risk of misjudgment if it is present in the vehicle interior even though it is present. Note that the case where the mobile terminal 90 is located below the lower end of the window section 22 is, for example, a case where the user stores the mobile terminal 90 in a handbag or a pants pocket.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 13, as another configuration for determining the position of the mobile terminal 90 by comparing the strength outside the vehicle interior and the strength inside the vehicle interior, as shown in FIG. A configuration in which the communication device 12 is arranged is conceivable.

However, radio waves generally used in short-range communication are high frequency signals such as 2.4 GHz, and have stronger straightness than radio waves in a low frequency (so-called LF: Low Frequency) band of 300 kHz or less. In other words, propagation due to wraparound (in other words, diffraction) is less likely to occur.
Moreover, it is preferable that the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is arranged in a posture such that its directivity is substantially parallel to the horizontal plane of the vehicle. This is because, according to such an attachment posture, a communication area can be formed widely around the vehicle, and short-range communication can be performed with the mobile terminal 90 while the user is approaching the vehicle. Note that the arrangement mode in which the directivity is substantially parallel to the horizontal plane of the vehicle also includes a mode in which the omnidirectional antenna is arranged so that a plane that provides omnidirectionality is parallel to the horizontal plane of the vehicle. However, in such an attachment position, the upward sensitivity of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 deteriorates.
Furthermore, in the embodiment in which the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is disposed inside the door handle, when the mobile terminal 90 is located near the window portion 22 outside the vehicle interior, the distance from the mobile terminal 90 to the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is It is longer than the configuration of the embodiment, and the reception strength tends to be a small value.

In view of the above circumstances, in the second comparative configuration, the vicinity of the window tends to become an out-of-line-of-sight area for the vehicle exterior communication device 12. Moreover, such a tendency becomes remarkable when the body shape is such that a convex portion 211 is formed between the lower end 221 of the window portion 22 and the door handle, as shown in FIG. . The convex portion 211 is a portion of the body 21 that protrudes to the outside in the vehicle width direction (in other words, to the outside of the vehicle interior) than the vehicle exterior communication device 12.

As a result, when the mobile terminal 90 is present near the window 22 outside the vehicle interior, the exterior strength of the vehicle interior tends to be relatively low in the second comparative configuration. Therefore, if the mobile terminal 90 is located outside the vehicle near the window 22, there is a relatively high possibility that the magnitude relationship between the strength outside the vehicle and the strength inside the vehicle will be reversed. However, if it is present in the vehicle interior, there is a high risk of misjudgment.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is placed near the window frame, that is, along the path of radio waves from outside the vehicle to the interior of the vehicle, so there is a possibility that the strength outside the vehicle will be lower than the strength inside the vehicle. is small, and the risk of misjudging the position of the mobile terminal 90 can be reduced more than in the second comparison configuration. Further, in the second comparison configuration, the line-of-sight area for the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is easily influenced by the body shape, whereas in this embodiment, it is not as affected by the body shape of the vehicle Hv as in the second comparison configuration. Therefore, it can be said that this embodiment is suitable for application to various vehicle models.

Furthermore, in a configuration in which the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is provided on the door handle, when the user puts his/her hand on the door handle, the signal from the mobile terminal 90 is attenuated by the user's hand, further degrading the vehicle exterior strength. There is a risk that it will happen. In contrast, with the configuration of this embodiment, even when the user is placing his/her hand on the door handle, there is no risk that the signal from the mobile terminal 90 will be attenuated by the user's hand. Therefore, it can be said that this embodiment is also suitable for a configuration in which the position of the mobile terminal 90 is estimated using the detection of the user touching the door handle by the touch sensor 14 as a trigger.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications described below are also included within the technical scope of the present disclosure. Various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the various modifications described below can be implemented in appropriate combinations within a range that does not cause technical contradiction.

It should be noted that members having the same functions as those described in the above-described embodiments are given the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted. Furthermore, when only a part of the configuration is mentioned, the configuration of the previously described embodiment can be applied to other parts.

[Modification 1]
In the embodiment described above, an aspect was disclosed in which the vehicle exterior communication device 12 was arranged in the middle part of the B-pillar 24B, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The mounting position of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 may be a lower part or an upper part of the B-pillar 24B. The lower portion of the B-pillar 24B corresponds to the lower portion of the three sections formed by dividing the B-pillar 24B into three equal parts in the vehicle height direction. The upper portion of the B-pillar 24B corresponds to the upper portion of the three sections formed by dividing the B-pillar 24B into three equal parts in the vehicle height direction.

Further, the mounting position of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 may be the A-pillar 24A as shown in FIG. 15. The specific installation position of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 in the A-pillar 24A is preferably in the middle part, but may be in the lower part or the upper part. Furthermore, the mounting position of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 may be the C-pillar 24C. In addition, the vehicle exterior communication device 12 may be arranged at a plurality of pillars, such as the A-pillar 24A and the B-pillar 24B, or the A-pillar 24A and the C-pillar 24C. The various pillars correspond to members existing in a predetermined area on the outer surface of the vehicle Hv that can be considered to be near the window portion 22 of the vehicle Hv.

[Modification 2]
As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is mounted at the left roof end 231, which is the end on the left side of the vehicle, among the ends of the roof portion 23, and at the right end of the vehicle. It may be arranged at each of the certain right roof ends 232.

The left roof end portion 231 is a region corresponding to the boundary between the roof portion 23 and the left side surface portion of the vehicle Hv. The left roof end portion 231 corresponds to the left side surface portion of the roof portion 23. Further, from another perspective, the left roof end portion 231 corresponds to a portion that is in contact with the upper end portion of a door provided on the left side of the vehicle Hv. Further, the left roof end portion 231 corresponds to a portion of the left side surface of the vehicle Hv located above the window portion 22 provided on the left side of the vehicle Hv.

The right roof end portion 232 is a region corresponding to the boundary between the roof portion 23 and the right side surface portion of the vehicle Hv. The right roof end portion 232 corresponds to the right side surface portion of the roof portion 23. Further, from another perspective, the right roof end portion 232 corresponds to a portion that is in contact with the upper end portion of a door provided on the right side of the vehicle Hv. Further, the right roof end portion 232 corresponds to a portion of the right side surface of the vehicle Hv located above the window portion 22 provided on the right side of the vehicle Hv.

That is, the vehicle exterior communication device 12 may be arranged in a region corresponding to the boundary between the roof portion 23 and the side surface portion. In such an embodiment, when an omnidirectional antenna is adopted as the vehicle exterior antenna 121, the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is arranged in a region corresponding to the boundary between the roof portion 23 and the side surface portion, where the metal member is arranged. It is preferable that the vehicle be placed on the outside of the vehicle interior. Further, when the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is disposed at the above-mentioned position, it is preferable that the vehicle exterior communication device 12 be mounted in such a manner that the center of directivity points downward by several degrees to 30 degrees from the horizontal plane of the vehicle.

The above configuration also provides the same effects as the embodiments described above. Note that the left roof end 231 and the right roof end 232 are located at a preset distance from the upper end of the window 22 on the outer surface of the vehicle Hv, which can be considered as being in the vicinity of the window 22. This corresponds to the part within the range. The distance that can be considered as the vicinity of the window portion 22 may be appropriately designed, and is set to, for example, 10 cm. Further, the distance that can be considered as being in the vicinity of the window portion 22 may be set to, for example, about one time the wavelength of the radio waves used by the system. If a 2.4 GHz band radio wave is used as the system radio wave, the wavelength of the 2.4 GHz radio wave is approximately 12.5 cm, so the distance that can be considered as being in the vicinity of the window 22 would be 12.5 cm. It only needs to be set. Of course, the distance that can be considered as being in the vicinity of the window portion 22 may be 5 cm or the like.

[Modification 3]
In the above-described embodiments and various modified examples, in the area where the distance from the window part 22 is within a predetermined distance that can be considered as the vicinity of the window part 22 (hereinafter referred to as the window part vicinity area), metal Although the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is disposed outside the vehicle interior of the portion where the members are disposed, the present invention is not limited thereto.

When the vehicle exterior antenna 121 is a directional antenna, it is sufficient that the antenna 121 is placed in the vicinity of the window in such a manner that the center of directivity of the vehicle exterior antenna 121 faces outside the vehicle interior, as shown in FIG. The material of the part to which the communication device 12 is attached does not have to be metal. According to such a configuration, even if the C-pillar 24C is made of resin, it can be used as a mounting destination for the vehicle exterior communication device 12. FIG. 18 is a diagram conceptually showing the attachment attitude and directivity of the vehicle exterior communication device 12 with respect to the C-pillar 24C, and is a diagram when the C-pillar 24C and the like are viewed from above the vehicle Hv. The dashed-dotted ellipse in FIG. 18 represents the directivity of the vehicle exterior communication device 12, and the dashed-dotted arrow indicates the center of the directivity. The area near the window corresponds to a predetermined area that can be considered to be near the window 22 on the outer surface of the vehicle Hv.

[Modification 4]
Although a mode in which the vehicle exterior communication device 12 is provided near a side window, such as a pillar, has been disclosed above, the present invention is not limited thereto. It may be provided near the front window or may be provided near the rear window.

10 In-vehicle system, 11 Authentication ECU, 12/12A/12B Vehicle exterior communication device, 121
Vehicle exterior communication device, 122 Transmission/reception unit, 123 Intensity detection unit, 13 Vehicle interior communication device, 131
In-vehicle antenna, 132 transmitting/receiving section, 133 intensity detecting section, 21 body, 22 window section, 23 roof section, 24A A pillar, 24B B pillar, 24C C pillar, 90 mobile terminal, 211 convex section, 221 lower end section, 231 Left side roof end, 232 Right side roof end, F5 Position determination unit, F6 Vehicle control unit

Claims (8)

A vehicle position determination system that estimates the position of a mobile terminal carried by a user by receiving a wireless signal transmitted from the mobile terminal using radio waves in a predetermined frequency band of 1 GHz or more, the system comprising:
an in-vehicle receiving section (132) that receives the radio signal transmitted from the mobile terminal via an in-vehicle antenna installed in the vehicle interior;
a vehicle interior intensity detection unit (133) that detects the reception strength of the radio signal received by the vehicle interior reception unit as vehicle interior strength;
an antenna outside the vehicle interior (121) for receiving the radio signal arriving from outside the vehicle interior;
a vehicle exterior receiving unit (122) that receives the wireless signal transmitted from the mobile terminal via the vehicle exterior antenna;
a vehicle exterior intensity detection unit (123) that detects the reception strength of the radio signal received by the vehicle exterior reception unit as vehicle exterior intensity;
a position determination unit (a position determination unit) that determines whether or not the mobile terminal exists outside the vehicle interior based on the vehicle interior intensity detected by the vehicle interior intensity detection unit and the vehicle exterior intensity detected by the vehicle exterior intensity detection unit; F5) and,
The vehicle exterior antenna is disposed on the outer surface of the pillar of the vehicle at a position above the lower end of the window portion, and
In the vehicle position determination system, the vehicle interior antenna is provided below a lower end of the window portion in the vehicle interior. The vehicle position determination system according to claim 1 ,
The vehicle exterior antenna is disposed on the outer surface of the B-pillar or C-pillar on the driver's seat side at a position above the lower end of the window portion, and
The vehicle interior antenna is a vehicle position determination system that is placed on the side surface of the driver's seat door on the inside of the vehicle. The vehicle position determination system according to claim 1,
The vehicle exterior antenna is arranged on an outer surface of a pillar of the vehicle, and
The vehicle interior antenna is not installed on the interior side surface of the pillar where the vehicle exterior antenna is arranged, but is installed on the center console, the instrument panel, the footwell of the driver's seat, or inside the seat of the rear seat. A vehicle position determination system located at the The vehicle position determination system according to claim 1,
The vehicle exterior antenna is arranged on an outer surface of a pillar of the vehicle, and
In the vehicle position determination system, the vehicle interior antenna is not provided on the vehicle interior side surface of the pillar on which the vehicle exterior antenna is arranged. A vehicle position determination system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The vehicle exterior antenna is a directional antenna, and the vehicle position determination system is arranged in such a manner that the center of the directionality is directed toward the exterior of the vehicle. The vehicle position determination system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
The position determination unit is configured to determine that the mobile terminal is located outside the vehicle when the intensity outside the vehicle interior detected by the intensity detection unit outside the vehicle interior is higher than the intensity inside the vehicle interior detected by the interior strength detection unit. A vehicle position determination system configured to determine the location of the vehicle. A vehicle position determination system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
A vehicle control unit (F6) that performs at least one of unlocking a door provided in the vehicle, locking the door, and starting a drive source of the vehicle based on a determination result of the position determination unit. Vehicle position determination system. The mobile terminal is connected to an in-vehicle electronic control unit that performs position determination processing of the mobile terminal with respect to the vehicle based on the reception status of a wireless signal transmitted from a mobile terminal carried by a user using radio waves in a predetermined frequency band of 1 GHz or more. A vehicle communication system used,
As a communication device for receiving the wireless signal from the mobile terminal,
a vehicle exterior communication device (12), which is the communication device, disposed at a position above the lower end of the window portion on the outer surface of the pillar of the vehicle;
at least one in-vehicle communication device (13), which is the communication device provided below the lower end of the window portion in the room;
The vehicle exterior communication device and the vehicle interior communication device each include:
The antenna includes an antenna for receiving the wireless signal and a strength detection unit that detects the reception strength of the wireless signal, and the data indicating the detected reception strength is transmitted to the vehicle electronic control unit based on an instruction from the vehicle-mounted electronic control device. A vehicle communication system configured to output to a control device.

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