JP7515221B2 - Vehicle operation management system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a technology for managing the operation of passenger transport vehicles, and in particular to a technology for estimating the behavior or status of passengers relative to the vehicle or vehicle operation facilities using a short-range wireless communication unit and a passenger's communication terminal.

Technology has already been proposed for managing the operation of multiple vehicles for transporting passengers. Here, "vehicles" include, for example, public buses, chartered buses, public taxis, chartered taxis, trains, tramcars, and rail-based transportation (for example, monorails, cable cars, and trolleys). In addition, "vehicles" may, for example, be operated along a fixed route, or along a route that is determined as needed in response to passenger requests.

Patent document 1 discloses a technology for managing the operation of a public bus as the vehicle, in which location information of the user's desired bus boarding location is sent from the user terminal to a server, and a bus boarding reservation is made using the information.

Patent Document 2 discloses another technology for managing the operation of a public bus as the vehicle, in which a server remotely monitors the user's current location using the GPS function of the user's terminal, thereby locating the boarding and disembarking location when the user gets on and off the bus. In this technology, the server calculates the fare for the user based on the positioning results, and the user electronically settles the fare using the user's terminal.

Patent document 3 discloses yet another technology for managing the operation of a public bus as the vehicle, in which a two-dimensional code is displayed adjacent to the name of each bus stop on a route map, and a user reads the two-dimensional code with a user terminal, accesses a server based on the link information obtained by reading the code, and the user terminal downloads operation information from the server.

JP 2002-056498 A JP 2008-217194 A JP 2006-268392 A

The inventor conducted research into conventional vehicle operation management systems and obtained the following findings:

In general, in a vehicle operation management system, the relative position between the vehicle (e.g., a moving object) and the station (e.g., a stationary object) changes from moment to moment while the vehicle is in operation, and the position or behavior of the passenger (e.g., a moving object) changes in sync with this change.

Specifically, for example, the status of the vehicle operation facility including the vehicles and the stops and the passenger behavior status are in a waiting phase where the next vehicle is waiting at a stop, in a boarding phase where a vehicle has arrived at a stop and passengers are boarding the vehicle (e.g., reclassified into three phases: boarding start, boarding in progress, and boarding completed), or in an alighting phase where a vehicle has arrived at a stop and passengers are alighting from the vehicle (e.g., reclassified into three phases: alighting start, alighting in progress, and alighting completed).

Furthermore, in recent years, information and communication technology has made great advances, and the majority of potential passengers carry communication terminals, such as mobile terminals, with communication functions. These communication terminals are generally equipped with advanced communication functions, such as the ability to selectively perform short-range and long-range communication depending on the communication characteristics of the other communication device.

If passengers use such user terminals to access the vehicle operation management system, the burden placed on the vehicle operation management system in terms of both hardware and software resources will be reduced.

In response to this, as mentioned above, technology that allows passengers to use a user terminal to access a vehicle operation management system has already been proposed in Patent Documents 1 to 3.

However, Patent Documents 1 to 3 do not propose any technology that uses a user terminal to estimate a user's behavior relative to vehicle operation facilities.

In response to this, the inventor proposed a new hardware configuration for estimating user behavior, in which vehicles and stations as vehicle operation equipment are each equipped with a transmitter that emits a unique signal, which enables short-range communication with a user terminal, and which enables the user terminal to measure the distance to the transmitter based on the strength of the signal received by the user terminal from the transmitter.

The inventor further proposed a new software configuration for estimating user behavior, in which the user terminal identifies the receiving object (e.g., which vehicle or which station) based on the signals received by the user terminal from those transmitters (e.g., whether a signal is received, the strength of the signal, etc.), and references the identified receiving object to thereby estimate the user's behavior in relation to time.

In light of these circumstances, the present invention has been made as a first object to provide a technology for controlling the operation of passenger transport vehicles, which determines the vehicle's operating route and stopping positions in response to passenger requests and estimates the passenger's behavior or status relative to the vehicle; a second object to provide a technology for managing the operation of multiple passenger transport vehicles, which estimates the status of the vehicle operation equipment or the user's behavior or status relative to the vehicle operation equipment using a transmitter and a user terminal; a third object to provide a technology for managing the operation of passenger transport vehicles, which estimates the passenger's behavior or status relative to the vehicle or the vehicle operation equipment using a short-range wireless communication unit and a passenger's communication terminal; and a fourth object to provide a technology for managing the operation of the vehicle, which uses a short-range wireless communication unit and a passenger's communication terminal arranged in the passenger transport vehicle.

In order to solve the first problem, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a passenger request responsive vehicle operation control system for operating a manned vehicle operated by a driver or an unmanned vehicle operated autonomously as a public bus or a public taxi, the passenger request responsive vehicle operation control system using a passenger's communication terminal capable of short-range wireless communication and long-range wireless communication to operate the vehicle along a route determined in response to passenger requests and to stop the vehicle at a stopping position determined in response to passenger requests,
a target operation information determination unit that determines, by using a communication terminal of a passenger, a route and stop positions according to a request of the passenger as target operation information;
a short-range wireless communication unit for the boarding entrance and a short-range wireless communication unit for the disembarking entrance, which are installed at the boarding entrance and the disembarking entrance of the vehicle and capable of short-range wireless communication with a communication terminal of a passenger, each of which transmits a signal that can be distinguished from the other;
A passenger request responsive vehicle operation control system is provided, which includes a behavior phase estimation unit that selects a relative behavior phase of the passenger with respect to the vehicle from a plurality of behavior phases including a boarding phase in which the passenger boards the vehicle and a disembarking phase in which the passenger disembarks from the vehicle based on the status of the signal received by the passenger's communication terminal from each short-range wireless communication unit.

In order to solve the first problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a passenger request responsive vehicle operation control system for operating a manned vehicle operated by a driver or an unmanned vehicle operated autonomously as a public bus or a public taxi, the passenger request responsive vehicle operation control system using a communication terminal of the passenger capable of short-range wireless communication and long-range wireless communication to operate the vehicle along a route determined in response to the passenger request and to stop the vehicle at a stopping position determined in response to the passenger request,
a target operation information determination unit that determines, by using a communication terminal of a passenger, a route and stop positions according to a request of the passenger as target operation information;
At least one short-range wireless communication unit installed in the vehicle and capable of short-range wireless communication with a passenger's communication terminal;
a behavior phase estimation unit that selects a relative behavior phase of the passenger with respect to the vehicle from a plurality of behavior phases including an entry phase in which the passenger enters the vehicle and an exit phase in which the passenger exits the vehicle based on a communication result between the short-range wireless communication unit and the passenger's communication terminal;
and an electronic payment unit that enables electronic payment of a flat-rate or metered fee for the vehicle, calculated based on the travel distance of the vehicle, when a passenger touches or holds the communication terminal over the short-range wireless communication unit when getting on or off the vehicle.

In order to solve the second problem, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing the operation of a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers, comprising:
A communication terminal of a user who may be a passenger of any one of the vehicles;
At least one station transmitter installed at each station for each vehicle and transmitting a unique station signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
At least one vehicle transmitter installed in each vehicle and configured to transmit a unique vehicle signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
a management server used to manage the operation of the plurality of vehicles;
The communication terminal includes:
a station identification unit that, when receiving a station signal from any one of the station transmitters, identifies any one of the stations at which the station transmitter is installed based on the station signal and transmits the identification result to the management server;
a vehicle identification unit that, when receiving a vehicle signal from any one of the vehicle transmitters, identifies any one of the vehicles in which the vehicle transmitter is installed based on the vehicle signal and transmits the identification result to the management server;
a fault diagnosis unit for diagnosing whether or not each station transmitter and/or each vehicle transmitter has a fault;
a positioning unit that measures a current location of the communication terminal as a current location of a user;
a user behavior estimation unit that estimates the user's behavior, based on the user's current position measured by the positioning unit and/or the user's speed or acceleration acquired by a speed acquisition unit or an acceleration acquisition unit of the communication terminal, whether the user is standing still or walking at any of the station transmitters, or whether the user is in a moving vehicle and traveling together with the vehicle;
an alternative station identification unit which, when any of the station transmitters is diagnosed as being out of order, identifies the station where the user is located based on the measured current position of the user and the estimated user behavior instead of the station identification unit, and transmits the identification result to the management server;
A vehicle operation management system is provided that includes a proxy vehicle identification unit that, when it is diagnosed that any of the vehicle transmitters is malfunctioning, replaces the vehicle identification unit and identifies the vehicle in which the user is riding based on the measured current location of the user and the estimated user behavior, and transmits the identification result to the management server.

In order to solve the third problem, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle operation management system that manages operation of a passenger transport vehicle by using a passenger's communication terminal capable of short-range wireless communication and long-range wireless communication, comprising:
a short-range wireless communication unit for the boarding entrance and a short-range wireless communication unit for the disembarking entrance, which are installed at the boarding entrance and the disembarking entrance of the vehicle and capable of short-range wireless communication with a communication terminal of a passenger, each of which transmits a signal that can be distinguished from each other and can identify the vehicle;
A management server capable of long-distance wireless communication with a communication terminal of a passenger;
the vehicle has a communication device capable of long-distance wireless communication with the management server,
The communication terminal and/or the management server
a behavior phase estimation unit that selects a relative behavior phase of the passenger with respect to the vehicle from a plurality of behavior phases including an entry phase in which the passenger enters the vehicle and an exit phase in which the passenger exits the vehicle based on a state of a signal received by the passenger's communication terminal from each short-range wireless communication unit;
a vehicle information display unit that enables the communication terminal to display the vehicle number, name, or symbol on a screen of the communication terminal based on a signal received from the boarding entrance short-range wireless communication unit when the behavior phase of the passenger is estimated to be the boarding phase;
and a boarding completion determination unit that, when the display is performed and the passenger touches or holds the communication terminal over the boarding entrance short-range wireless communication unit, determines that the passenger has completed boarding the vehicle based on a signal received by the communication terminal from the boarding entrance short-range wireless communication unit,
The management server is provided with a vehicle operation management system that uses the communication device to manage the operation of the vehicle based on the determination result that the boarding has been completed.

In order to solve the third problem, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle operation management system that manages operation of a passenger transport vehicle by using a passenger's communication terminal capable of short-range wireless communication and long-range wireless communication, comprising:
a short-range wireless communication unit for the boarding entrance and a short-range wireless communication unit for the disembarking entrance, which are installed at the boarding entrance and the disembarking entrance of the vehicle and capable of short-range wireless communication with a communication terminal of a passenger, each of which transmits a signal that can be distinguished from the other;
A vehicle operation management system is provided that includes a behavior phase estimation unit that selects a relative behavior phase of the passenger with respect to the vehicle from a plurality of behavior phases including a boarding phase in which the passenger boards the vehicle and a disembarking phase in which the passenger disembarks from the vehicle based on the status of the signal received by the passenger's communication terminal from each short-range wireless communication unit.

In order to solve the fourth problem, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle operation management system that manages operation of a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers by using passenger communication terminals capable of short-range wireless communication and long-range wireless communication, comprising:
a short-range wireless communication unit that is installed in a passenger compartment of each vehicle at a position where a passenger passes when getting on the vehicle, and that is capable of short-range wireless communication with a communication terminal of the passenger;
A management server capable of long-distance wireless communication with passengers' communication terminals;
Including,
The communication terminal and/or the management server
a vehicle information display unit that enables the communication terminal to display, when the communication terminal receives a signal capable of identifying one of the vehicles from the short-range wireless communication unit before the passenger touches or holds the communication terminal over the short-range wireless communication unit of one of the vehicles, information capable of identifying the one of the vehicles on a screen of the communication terminal based on the received signal;
a boarding completion determination unit that enables the communication terminal to determine that the boarding of the passenger into any one of the vehicles has been completed based on a signal received by the communication terminal from the short-range wireless communication unit when the passenger boards any one of the vehicles and touches or holds the communication terminal over the short-range wireless communication unit;
A vehicle operation management system including the above is provided.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle operation management system that manages operation of a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers by using passenger communication terminals capable of short-range wireless communication and long-range wireless communication, comprising :
a short-range wireless communication unit that is installed in a passenger compartment of each vehicle at a position where a passenger passes when getting on the vehicle, and that is capable of short-range wireless communication with a communication terminal of the passenger;
A management server capable of long-distance wireless communication with a communication terminal of a passenger;
The communication terminal and/or the management server
a stop selection unit that enables a passenger to select one of a plurality of stops using the communication terminal before the passenger gets on any of the vehicles;
and a boarding completion determination unit that, when the passenger boards any of the vehicles from any of the stops and touches or holds the communication terminal over the short-range wireless communication unit, determines that the passenger has completed boarding any of the vehicles based on a signal received by the communication terminal from the short-range wireless communication unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for diagnosing whether or not each of a plurality of transmitters installed at a plurality of geographically different locations has a malfunction, by using a communication terminal of a user while the user is at the installation location, the method comprising:
a positioning step of measuring a current position of the communication terminal by a positioning unit of the communication terminal;
an identification step for identifying, from the measured current location, which transmitter should be installed at the current location according to a predetermined relationship between the installation location of each transmitter and the transmitter ID of each transmitter, the relationship being stored in a memory of the communication terminal;
a diagnostic step of diagnosing that any of the identified transmitters is faulty when the communication terminal does not receive a signal from the identified transmitter;
and a transmitting step of transmitting the diagnosis result to a management server.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing the operation of a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers, comprising:
A communication terminal of a user who may be a passenger of any one of the vehicles;
at least one station transmitter installed at each station for each vehicle and transmitting a station signal representing a unique station transmitter ID by a short-range wireless communication method, a first reception range set by the communication terminal being a range in which the communication terminal can effectively receive the station signal from the station transmitter;
at least one vehicle transmitter installed in each vehicle, which transmits a vehicle signal representing a unique vehicle transmitter ID by a short-distance wireless communication method, and a second reception range set by the communication terminal, which is a range in which the communication terminal can effectively receive the vehicle signal from the vehicle transmitter;
a management server used for centrally managing the operation of the plurality of vehicles;
the communication terminal sets the sizes of the first reception range and the second reception range such that, when the vehicle arrives at any one of the stations, the second reception range of the vehicle transmitter of the vehicle and the first reception range of the station transmitter of any one of the stations at least partially overlap each other;
the communication terminal receives signals from each of the vehicle transmitters and the station transmitters with a reception strength that decreases as the distance between the communication terminal and each transmitter increases;
A vehicle operation management system is provided which includes a behavior phase estimation unit that, when the communication terminal simultaneously receives signals from the vehicle transmitter and the station transmitter, identifies the vehicle from the vehicle transmitter ID represented by the vehicle signal received by the communication terminal from the vehicle transmitter, and identifies the station from the station transmitter ID represented by the station signal received by the communication terminal from the station transmitter, and further estimates the user's relative behavior phase with respect to the vehicle and/or the station based on the direction of temporal change in the reception strength of the signal received by the communication terminal from the vehicle transmitter and/or the station transmitter, and transmits the behavior phase to the management server.

The present invention provides the following aspects. Each aspect is divided into clauses, each clause is numbered, and the numbers of other clauses are cited as necessary. This is to facilitate understanding of some of the technical features that the present invention may employ and their combinations, and should not be construed as limiting the technical features and combinations that the present invention may employ to the following aspects. In other words, it should be construed that there is no prohibition on appropriately extracting and employing technical features that are not described in the following aspects but are described in this specification as technical features of the present invention.

Furthermore, describing each paragraph in a form that refers to the number of other paragraphs does not necessarily mean that it is prohibited to separate and make independent the technical features described in each paragraph from the technical features described in other paragraphs, and it should be interpreted that it is possible to make independent the technical features described in each paragraph as appropriate depending on their nature.

(1) A system for managing the operation of multiple passenger transport vehicles, comprising:
A communication terminal of a user who may be a passenger of any one of the vehicles;
At least one station transmitter installed at each station for each vehicle and transmitting a unique station signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
At least one vehicle transmitter installed in each vehicle and configured to transmit a unique vehicle signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
a management server used for centrally managing the operation of the plurality of vehicles;
The communication terminal includes:
a station identification unit that, when receiving a station signal from any one of the station transmitters, identifies any one of the stations at which the station transmitter is installed based on the station signal and transmits the identification result to the management server;
a vehicle identification unit that, when receiving a vehicle signal from any one of the vehicle transmitters, identifies any one of the vehicles in which the vehicle transmitter is installed based on the vehicle signal and transmits the identification result to the management server;
a vehicle stop determination unit that, when simultaneously receiving signals from both any one of the station transmitters and any one of the vehicle transmitters, determines that any one of the vehicles in which any one of the vehicle transmitters is installed is currently parked at any one of the stations in which any one of the station transmitters is installed, and that the user is located in the vicinity of the station and the vehicle, and transmits the determination result to the management server;
The vehicle operation management system includes a storage unit that, when receiving the determination result from the communication terminal, stores the received determination result in memory in association with the time of receipt.

(2) A system for managing the operation of multiple vehicles for transporting passengers, comprising:
A communication terminal of a user who may be a passenger of any one of the vehicles;
At least one station transmitter installed at each station for each vehicle and transmitting a unique station signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
At least one vehicle transmitter installed in each vehicle and configured to transmit a unique vehicle signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
a management server used for centrally managing the operation of the plurality of vehicles;
The communication terminal includes:
a station identification unit that, when receiving a station signal from any one of the station transmitters, identifies any one of the stations at which the station transmitters are installed based on the station signal;
a vehicle identification unit that, when receiving a vehicle signal from any one of the vehicle transmitters, identifies any one of the vehicles in which the vehicle transmitter is installed based on the vehicle signal;
a linking unit that, when receiving a station signal from any one of the station transmitters and a vehicle signal from any one of the vehicle transmitters, determines based on the signals whether the identified station and the identified vehicle share the same space and/or the same time, and if so, links the identified station and the identified vehicle to each other and transmits the linking information to the management server;
a status estimation unit that estimates a status of a vehicle operation facility including the identified station and the identified vehicle and/or a user based on a station signal received from any one of the station transmitters, a vehicle signal received from any one of the vehicle transmitters, and the linking information, and transmits the status information to the management server;
The vehicle operation management system includes a storage unit that, when receiving the linking information and/or the status information from the communication terminal, stores the received information in memory in association with the time of receipt.

(3) The vehicle operation management system described in (2) in which the status estimation unit estimates the user's status, including at least one of the user's position relative to the vehicle operation equipment, the user's behavior phase, and the user's movement speed, based on at least one of the presence or absence of reception of each station signal and vehicle signal by the communication terminal at each time, the reception strength of each station signal and vehicle signal by the communication terminal at each time, and the time-varying characteristics of the reception strength of each station signal and vehicle signal by the communication terminal.

(4) A vehicle operation management system as described in (3), in which the user's phases are classified into at least two of a waiting phase in which the user waits at any of the stops, a boarding phase in which the user boards any of the vehicles, and an alighting phase in which the user alights from any of the vehicles.

(5) A vehicle operation management system according to any one of (1) to (4), in which the sizes of a first reception range and a second reception range, which are ranges within which the communication terminal can effectively receive station signals and vehicle signals from the station transmitter and the vehicle transmitter, respectively, are set to be different from each other.

(6) A vehicle operation management system according to any one of clauses (1) to (5), in which the communication terminal changes the size of the first and second reception ranges, within which the communication terminal can effectively receive station signals and vehicle signals from the station transmitter and the vehicle transmitter, depending on whether the transmitter is a station transmitter or a vehicle transmitter, and changes the reference value of the actual reception strength or the actual reception distance for determining whether effective reception occurs depending on whether the transmitter is a station transmitter or a vehicle transmitter.

(7) A vehicle operation management system according to any one of (1) to (6), in which the communication terminal sets the sizes of the first reception range and the second reception range, which are ranges within which the station signal and the vehicle signal can be effectively received from the station transmitter and the vehicle transmitter, respectively, so that the first reception range and the second reception range at least partially overlap each other when the vehicle is stopped at the station.

(8) The communication terminal sets the sizes of the first reception range and the second reception range, which are ranges in which a station signal and a vehicle signal can be effectively received from the station transmitter and the vehicle transmitter, respectively, such that the first reception range and the second reception range at least partially overlap each other when the vehicle is stopped at the station,
The vehicle operation management system described in (2) above, when the communication terminal effectively receives a station signal and a vehicle signal from both a station transmitter installed at any station and a vehicle transmitter installed in any vehicle simultaneously, links a station ID represented by the station signal received from any of the station transmitters and representing the current station with a vehicle ID represented by the vehicle signal received from any of the vehicle transmitters and representing the current vehicle.

(9) The vehicle operation management system described in (2), wherein the status estimation unit includes a ride reservation unit that, when the user touches the communication terminal to a station transmitter installed at any of the stations or holds the communication terminal over the station transmitter, makes a reservation for the user to ride in a vehicle scheduled to arrive at the station and transmits the ride reservation to the management server.

(10) The vehicle operation management system described in (2), wherein the status estimation unit includes a boarding completion determination unit that, when the user touches the communication terminal to a vehicle transmitter installed in one of the vehicles or holds the communication terminal over the vehicle transmitter, determines that the user has completed boarding the vehicle and transmits the determination result to the management server.

(11) The communication terminal sets sizes of a first reception range and a second reception range, which are ranges in which a station signal and a vehicle signal can be effectively received from the station transmitter and the vehicle transmitter, respectively, such that the first reception range and the second reception range at least partially overlap each other when the vehicle is stopped at the station;
The status estimation unit is
an alighting determination unit which, when the communication terminal transitions from a state in which the vehicle signal is predominantly effectively received from any of the vehicle transmitters or a state in which the strength of the vehicle signal effectively received from any of the vehicle transmitters gradually decreases to a state in which the station signal effectively received from any of the station transmitters is predominantly effectively received from any of the vehicle transmitters, determines that the user is in an alighting phase in which the user alights from the current vehicle identified by the vehicle ID represented by the vehicle signal effectively received from any of the vehicle transmitters, at the current station identified by the station ID represented by the station signal effectively received from any of the station transmitters, and transmits the determination result to the management server, on condition that the communication terminal at least temporarily experiences a state in which the station signal and the vehicle signal are effectively received simultaneously from both a station transmitter installed at any of the stations and a vehicle transmitter installed in any of the vehicles.
and a disembarking stop recognition unit that recognizes the current stop as the user's actual disembarking stop and transmits the disembarking stop to the management server.

(12) A vehicle operation management system according to any one of (1) to (11), wherein the vehicle includes a public bus, a chartered bus, a public taxi, a chartered taxi, a train, a streetcar, or a rail-based transportation system.

(13) A vehicle operation management system according to any one of items (1) to (12), in which the vehicle is operated along a fixed route or along a route determined on an ongoing basis in response to passenger requests.

(14) A program for causing a computer to function as a communication terminal according to any one of items (1) to (13).

Throughout this specification, the term "program" may be interpreted to mean, for example, but not limited to, a combination of instructions that are executed by a computer to perform a function, and may also include not only that combination of instructions, but also the files and data that are processed in accordance with each instruction.

In addition, this program can be, but is not limited to, a program that achieves the intended purpose by being executed by a computer on its own, or a program that achieves the intended purpose by being executed by a computer together with other programs. In the latter case, the program in this section can be, but is not limited to, a program that is mainly comprised of data.

(15) A program for causing a computer to function as a management server according to any one of items (1) to (13).

(16) A recording medium on which the program described in (14) or (15) is recorded in a computer-readable manner.

Throughout this specification, the term "recording medium" may be interpreted to mean various types of recording medium, including, but not limited to, magnetic recording media such as floppy disks, optical recording media such as CDs and CD-ROMs, magneto-optical recording media such as MOs, and non-removable storage such as ROMs.

(17) A system or method for managing the operation of a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers, comprising:
A communication terminal of a user who may be a passenger of any one of the vehicles;
At least one station transmitter installed at each station for each vehicle, which transmits a unique station signal by a short-range wireless communication system;
At least one vehicle transmitter installed in each vehicle transmits a unique vehicle signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
a management server used by a vehicle operation management center that centrally manages the operation of the plurality of vehicles;
The communication terminal includes:
a station identification unit that, when receiving a station signal from any one of the station transmitters, identifies any one of the stations at which any one of the station transmitters is installed from the transmitter ID represented by the station signal in accordance with a predetermined relationship between the transmitter ID and the station ID;
a vehicle identification unit that, when receiving a vehicle signal from any one of the vehicle transmitters, identifies any one of the vehicles in which any one of the vehicle transmitters is installed from the transmitter ID represented by the vehicle signal in accordance with a predetermined relationship between a transmitter ID and a vehicle ID;
A vehicle operation management system or method including a status estimation unit in which the communications terminal and/or the management server determine whether the identified stop and the identified vehicle share the same space and/or the same time based on a station signal received by the communications terminal from any station transmitter and a vehicle signal received from any vehicle transmitter, and if they do, link the identified stop and the identified vehicle to each other in association with time, thereby estimating the status of vehicle operation equipment including the identified stop and the identified vehicle in association with time.

(18) The vehicle operation management system or method described in (17) further includes a user behavior estimation unit that estimates a user behavior status including at least one of the user's position relative to the vehicle operation equipment, the user's behavior phase, and the user's movement speed in association with time based on at least one of the presence or absence of reception of a station signal and a vehicle signal by the communication terminal at each time, the reception strength of the station signal and the vehicle signal by the communication terminal at each time, and the time-varying characteristics of the reception strength of the station signal and the vehicle signal by the communication terminal.

(19) A system or method for managing the operation of a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers, comprising:
A communication terminal of a user who may be a passenger of any one of the vehicles;
At least one station transmitter installed at each station for each vehicle and transmitting a unique station signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
At least one vehicle transmitter installed in each vehicle and configured to transmit a unique vehicle signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
a management server used for centrally managing the operation of the plurality of vehicles;
The communication terminal includes:
a station identification unit that, when receiving a station signal from any one of the station transmitters, identifies any one of the stations at which the station transmitter is installed in association with time based on the station signal;
a vehicle identification unit that, when receiving a vehicle signal from any one of the vehicle transmitters, identifies any one of the vehicles on which the vehicle transmitter is installed in association with time based on the vehicle signal;
and an estimation unit that estimates a relative positional relationship between the user, the identified stop, and the identified vehicle based on the content of each identification result and the simultaneity and temporal precedence of each identification time.

(19) A system or method for managing the operation of a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers, comprising:
A communication terminal of a user who may be a passenger of any one of the vehicles;
At least one station transmitter installed at each station for each vehicle and transmitting a unique station signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
At least one vehicle transmitter installed in each vehicle and configured to transmit a unique vehicle signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
a management server used for centrally managing the operation of the plurality of vehicles;
The communication terminal includes:
a station identification unit that, when receiving a station signal from any one of the station transmitters, identifies any one of the stations at which the station transmitter is installed based on the station signal and transmits the identification result to the management server;
a vehicle identification unit that, when receiving a vehicle signal from any one of the vehicle transmitters, identifies any one of the vehicles in which any one of the vehicle transmitters is installed based on the vehicle signal and transmits the identification result to the management server;
The management server includes an estimation unit that estimates the relative positional relationship between the user, the identified stop, and the identified vehicle based on the content of each identification result received from the communication terminal and the simultaneity and temporal precedence of each reception time.

(20) A system or method for managing the operation of a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers, comprising:
A communication terminal of a user who may be a passenger of any one of the vehicles;
At least one station transmitter installed at each station for each vehicle and transmitting a unique station signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
At least one vehicle transmitter installed in each vehicle and configured to transmit a unique vehicle signal by a short-range wireless communication method;
a management server used to manage the operation of the plurality of vehicles;
The communication terminal includes:
a station identification unit that, when receiving a station signal from any one of the station transmitters, identifies any one of the stations at which the station transmitter is installed based on the station signal and transmits the identification result to the management server;
a vehicle identification unit that, when receiving a vehicle signal from any one of the vehicle transmitters, identifies any one of the vehicles in which the vehicle transmitter is installed based on the vehicle signal and transmits the identification result to the management server;
a fault diagnosis unit for diagnosing whether or not each station transmitter and/or each vehicle transmitter has a fault;
a positioning unit that measures a current location of the communication terminal as a current location of a user;
a user behavior estimation unit that estimates the user's behavior, based on the user's current position measured by the positioning unit and/or the user's speed or acceleration acquired by a speed acquisition unit or an acceleration acquisition unit of the communication terminal, whether the user is standing still or walking at any of the station transmitters, or whether the user is in a moving vehicle and traveling together with the vehicle;
an alternative station identification unit which, when any of the station transmitters is diagnosed as being out of order, identifies the station where the user is located based on the measured current position of the user and the estimated user behavior instead of the station identification unit, and transmits the identification result to the management server;
and a proxy vehicle identification unit which, when it is diagnosed that any of the vehicle transmitters is faulty, replaces the vehicle identification unit in identifying the vehicle in which the user is riding based on the measured current location of the user and the estimated user behavior, and transmits the identification result to the management server.

(21) The vehicle operation management system or method described in (20), in which the fault diagnosis unit identifies, from the current position measured by the positioning unit, which transmitter should be installed at the current position according to a predetermined relationship between the installation position of each transmitter and the transmitter ID of each transmitter, which is stored in the memory of the communication terminal or the management server, and diagnoses that one of the transmitters is faulty if the communication terminal does not receive a signal from that transmitter.

(22) A method for diagnosing the presence or absence of a malfunction in each of a plurality of transmitters installed at a plurality of geographically different locations by using a communication terminal of a user while the user is at the installation location, comprising:
a positioning step of measuring a current position of the communication terminal by a positioning unit of the communication terminal;
an identification step for identifying, from the measured current location, which transmitter should be installed at the current location according to a predetermined relationship between the installation location of each transmitter and the transmitter ID of each transmitter, the relationship being stored in a memory of the communication terminal;
a diagnostic step of diagnosing that any of the identified transmitters is faulty when the communication terminal does not receive a signal from the identified transmitter;
and a transmitting step of transmitting the diagnosis result to a management server.

This method relates to a technology for diagnosing whether or not a transmitter is faulty (e.g., malfunction, low battery, etc.).

According to this method, when a user approaches the location of one of the transmitters, either as planned or by chance, the user can use the user's communication terminal to diagnose whether one of the transmitters is malfunctioning, and the diagnosis results can be notified from the user's communication terminal to a management server in a remote location.

As a result, with this method, when the management server centrally manages multiple transmitters located in geographically dispersed locations, it is possible to have the user perform the tasks required for fault diagnosis on behalf of the user, sometimes unconsciously, when necessary, to diagnose faults on each transmitter without having to dispatch a worker to the location where the transmitter is installed, and further, to notify the management server in real time by sending the diagnosis results from the user's communication terminal to the management server.

(Mode 1)
A system for managing the operation of a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers, comprising:
A communication terminal of a user who may be a passenger of any one of the vehicles;
at least one station transmitter installed at each station for each vehicle and transmitting a station signal representing a unique station transmitter ID by a short-range wireless communication method, a first reception range set by the communication terminal being a range in which the communication terminal can effectively receive the station signal from the station transmitter;
At least one vehicle transmitter installed in each vehicle, which transmits a vehicle signal representing a unique vehicle lot transmitter ID by a short-distance wireless communication method, and a second reception range set by the communication terminal is a range in which the communication terminal can effectively receive the vehicle signal from the vehicle transmitter;
a management server used for centrally managing the operation of the plurality of vehicles;
Including,
the communication terminal sets the sizes of the first reception range and the second reception range such that, when the vehicle arrives at any one of the stations, the second reception range of the vehicle transmitter of the vehicle and the first reception range of the station transmitter of any one of the stations at least partially overlap each other;
the communication terminal receives signals from each of the vehicle transmitters and the station transmitters with a reception strength that decreases as the distance between the communication terminal and each transmitter increases;
The vehicle operation management system includes a behavior phase estimation unit that, when the communication terminal simultaneously receives signals from the vehicle transmitter and the station transmitter, identifies the vehicle from the vehicle transmitter ID represented by the vehicle signal received by the communication terminal from the vehicle transmitter, and identifies the station from the station transmitter ID represented by the station signal received by the communication terminal from the station transmitter, and further estimates the user's relative behavior phase with respect to the vehicle and/or the station based on the direction of temporal change in the reception strength of the signal received by the communication terminal from the vehicle transmitter and/or the station transmitter, and transmits the behavior phase to the management server.

(Mode 2)
A vehicle operation management system as described in mode 1, wherein the behavior phase estimation unit, when the communication terminal receives signals from the vehicle transmitter and the station transmitter simultaneously, determines whether there is a temporal decrease in the reception strength of the signal received by the communication terminal from the vehicle transmitter, and when it determines that there is a temporal decrease, determines that the behavior phase is a disembarking phase in which the user disembarks from the vehicle, and transmits the determination result to the management server.

(Mode 3)
A vehicle operation management system described in mode 1, in which the behavior phase estimation unit estimates the user's behavior phase for each time based on the station transmitter ID of the station signal and the vehicle transmitter ID of the vehicle signal received by the communication terminal, and the direction of temporal change in the reception strength of the station signal and/or the vehicle signal received by the communication terminal.

(Mode 4)
A vehicle operation management system as described in mode 3, wherein the user's behavior phase is classified into at least two of a waiting phase in which the user waits at any of the stops, a boarding phase in which the user boards any of the vehicles, and an alighting phase in which the user alights from any of the vehicles.

(Mode 5)
The vehicle operation management system according to any one of modes 1 to 4, wherein the communication terminal sets the sizes of the first reception range and the second reception range to be different from each other.

(Mode 6)
A vehicle operation management system described in any of modes 1 to 4, in which the communication terminal changes the reference value of the actual reception strength or actual reception distance for determining whether or not valid reception is occurring depending on whether the source of the transmission is a station transmitter or a vehicle transmitter, in order to change the size of each of the first reception range and the second reception range depending on whether the source of the transmission is a station transmitter or a vehicle transmitter.

(Mode 7)
A vehicle operation management system described in any of modes 1 to 6, further including a fault diagnosis unit that measures the user's current location using the positioning unit of the communication terminal, determines whether or not any station transmitter is present within the first reception range centered on the measured current location of the user according to a predetermined relationship between the spatial coordinate values representing the installation location of each station transmitter and the station transmitter ID of each station transmitter, and if it is determined that a signal is present, determines whether or not the communication terminal has received a signal from any of the station transmitters, and if it is determined that no signal was received, determines that the station transmitter is faulty.

(Mode 8)
A vehicle operation management system as described in mode 7, wherein the communications terminal further includes a backup type behavior phase estimation unit that, when the fault diagnosis unit diagnoses that the station transmitter is faulty, estimates the user's behavior phase based on the measured user's current position and the speed or acceleration acquired by a speed acquisition unit or an acceleration acquisition unit of the communications terminal.

(Mode 9)
A vehicle operation management system described in any of modes 1 to 8, wherein the communication terminal further includes a ride reservation unit that, when a user touches or holds the communication terminal over a station transmitter installed at any of the stations, makes a reservation for the user to ride in a vehicle that is scheduled to arrive at that station, and transmits the ride reservation to the management server.

(Mode 10)
A vehicle operation management system described in any of modes 1 to 9, wherein the communication terminal further includes a boarding completion determination unit that, when the user touches or holds the communication terminal over a vehicle transmitter installed in any of the vehicles, determines that the user has completed boarding in any of the vehicles and transmits the determination result to the management server.

(Mode 11)
A vehicle operation management system described in any one of modes 1 to 10, wherein the stop includes a stop configured as a temporary stop.

(Mode 12)
A vehicle operation management system according to any one of modes 1 to 11, wherein the vehicle includes a public bus, a chartered bus, a public taxi, a chartered taxi, a train, a streetcar, or a rail-based transportation system.

(Mode 13)
A vehicle operation management system according to any one of modes 1 to 12, in which the vehicle is operated along a fixed route or along a route determined on an ad-hoc basis in response to passenger requests.

(Mode 14)
A program for causing a computer to function as a communication terminal according to any one of modes 1 to 13.

(Mode 15)
A program for causing a computer to function as the management server according to any one of modes 1 to 13.

(Mode 16)
16. A recording medium having a program according to mode 14 or 15 recorded thereon in a computer-readable manner.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram conceptually showing a hardware configuration of a bus traffic control system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram conceptually showing a comprehensive communication network in the bus traffic control system shown in FIG. 1, which interconnects multiple nodes such as bus stops, buses, user terminals, and a bus traffic control center.

Figure 3 is a plan view showing an example of a user's action in the bus operation management system shown in Figure 1 in which the user approaches a bus stop and touches a bus stop transmitter installed at the bus stop with a mobile terminal because the bus is in a waiting phase.

Figure 4 is a plan view showing an example of an action in which a user, in the bus operation management system shown in Figure 1, boards a bus at one of the bus stops through its boarding entrance and touches a boarding entrance transmitter installed at that boarding entrance with a mobile terminal because the user is in the boarding phase.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of a behavior in which a user gets off at an exit of any bus at any bus stop because the user is in the alighting phase in the bus operation management system shown in FIG. 1 .

Figure 6 (a) is a graph conceptually showing an example of the time history of the relative reception strength Ir of the signal received by the mobile terminal from the bus stop transmitter of the desired boarding bus stop during the waiting phase, Figure 6 (b) is a graph conceptually showing an example of the time history of the relative reception strength Ir of the signal received by the mobile terminal from the boarding entrance transmitter during the boarding phase, Figure 6 (c) is a graph conceptually showing an example of the time history of the relative reception strength Ir of the signal received by the mobile terminal from the disembarking entrance transmitter during the disembarking phase, and Figure 6 (d) is a graph conceptually showing an example of the time history of the relative reception strength Ir of the signal received by the mobile terminal from the bus stop transmitter of the desired disembarking bus stop during the disembarking phase.

FIG. 7 is a plan view partially showing an example of a bus route map to which the bus operation control system shown in FIG. 1 is applied.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram conceptually showing the bus stop transmitter, the boarding entrance transmitter, and the alighting entrance transmitter shown in FIG. 2, all of which have a common configuration.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a table for managing a plurality of transmitter IDs for a plurality of bus stop transmitters installed at a plurality of bus stops in the bus operation control system shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a table for managing multiple transmitter IDs for multiple boarding entrance transmitters and multiple disembarking entrance transmitters mounted on multiple buses in the bus operation management system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a table for managing a plurality of effective reception radii (reference values for determining whether or not there is effective reception) for a plurality of transmitters in the bus operation control system shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram conceptually showing a mobile terminal of a user, i.e., a potential passenger of the bus shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a graph conceptually showing the signal characteristics in which the absolute received signal strength (RSSI), which is the strength of the signal received by the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 1 from each transmitter shown in FIG. 1, decreases according to the distance D between the transmitter and the mobile terminal.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram conceptually showing the management server shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart conceptually illustrating a number of programs executed by the mobile device and management server of the bus operation management system shown in FIG. 1 to detect the waiting phase and book a ride for a user.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart conceptually showing a plurality of programs executed by the mobile terminal and the management server of the bus operation management system shown in FIG. 1 in order to detect the boarding phase.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart conceptually showing a plurality of programs executed by the mobile terminal and the management server of the bus operation management system shown in FIG. 1 in order to detect the alighting phase.

FIG. 18 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a status management table created by the management server shown in FIG. 1 in the bus operation management system shown in FIG. 1, which shows the time history of the status for each user.

Figure 19 is a front view conceptually illustrating an example of a number of virtual buttons displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal in the bus operation management system shown in Figure 1, which are selected and operated by a user to select and activate a number of secondary functions.

Below, one of the more specific and exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the hardware configuration and communication network configuration of a bus traffic management system (hereinafter simply referred to as the "system") 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. This system is an example of a vehicle traffic management system according to one embodiment of the present invention, and executes an example of a vehicle traffic management method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

<System hardware configuration overview>

In brief, the system 10 is configured for the purpose of managing the operation of multiple passenger buses 12.

To achieve this objective, the system 10 includes (a) a mobile terminal 90 of a user who may be a passenger on any of the buses 12; (b) a bus stop transmitter 30 installed at each bus stop 14; (c) an entrance transmitter 32 installed at the entrance 16 of each bus 12 and an exit transmitter 34 installed at the exit 18 of each bus 12; (d) a management server 50 used by a vehicle operation management center 40 that centrally manages the operation of the multiple buses 12; and (e) an in-bus communication device 20 installed in each bus 12.

Bus 12 is an example of the aforementioned "vehicle for transporting passengers," and is, for example, a passenger bus or a chartered bus. In addition, bus 12 may operate along a fixed route (for example, a route), or may operate along a variable route that is determined from time to time according to passenger requests.

The user's mobile terminal 90 is an example of the aforementioned "user's communication terminal." The bus stop 14 is an example of the aforementioned "bus stop," and the bus stop transmitter 30 is an example of the aforementioned "bus stop transmitter." Another example of the aforementioned "bus stop" is a train or electric train (e.g., tram or subway) station. Yet another example of the aforementioned "bus stop" is a taxi stop.

The boarding entrance transmitter 32 and the exit entrance transmitter 34 are each an example of the "at least one vehicle transmitter" described above. In this embodiment, the boarding entrance transmitter 32 and the exit entrance transmitter 34 are both installed inside the interior of the bus 12, but instead, they may be installed inside the exterior wall of the bus 12 or on the exterior wall surface of the bus 12.

In this embodiment, the bus 12 has a boarding entrance 16 and an alighting entrance 18, so that passengers pass through different gates when boarding and alighting from the bus 12, but instead, passengers may pass through the same gate. In other words, the bus 12 may have at least one boarding and alighting entrance.

The bus stop transmitter 30, the boarding entrance transmitter 32, and the disembarking entrance transmitter 34 have a common configuration. Specifically, each of the transmitters 30, 32, and 34 (a) transmits a unique signal, (b) is capable of one-way short-range communication with the mobile terminal 90 as shown in FIG. 2, and (c) is capable of measuring the distance D (i.e., the actual receiving radius) between the transmitters 30, 32, and 34 and the mobile terminal 90 based on the strength of the signal RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator, received signal strength, received signal strength index value) received by the mobile terminal 90 from each of the transmitters 30, 32, and 34, as described below with reference to FIG. 13.

For ease of explanation, the signal received by the mobile terminal 90 from the bus stop transmitter 30 is referred to as a bus stop signal, the signal received by the mobile terminal 90 from the boarding entrance transmitter 32 is referred to as a boarding entrance signal, and the signal received by the mobile terminal 90 from the disembarking entrance transmitter 34 is referred to as a disembarking entrance signal. Here, the "bus stop signal" is an example of the aforementioned "station signal," the "boarding entrance signal" is an example of the aforementioned "vehicle signal," and the "disembarking entrance signal" is another example of the aforementioned "vehicle signal."

As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 90 is capable of long-distance two-way communication with the management server 50 via a communication network. Similarly, the in-bus communication device 20 is also capable of long-distance two-way communication with the management server 50 via a communication network.

The bus communication device 20 has a transmitting unit 22 that transmits traffic information and requests to the management server 50, a receiving unit 24 that receives traffic information and requests from the management server 50, and an output unit 26 that outputs the received information to the driver or passengers.

The output unit 26 outputs to the driver of the bus 12 information that the receiving unit 24 has received from the management server 50, such as operation-related information for the bus 12 (e.g., traffic congestion information or accident information for the route, weather information for the area around the route, predicted time-dependent fluctuations in the occupancy rate (degree of congestion) of the bus 12, etc.).

The output unit 26 further outputs information for passengers on the bus 12 received by the receiving unit 24 from the management server 50, such as operation-related information (e.g., traffic congestion information, accident information, weather information, predicted information on temporal fluctuations in the occupancy rate (degree of congestion) of the bus 12, etc.), guidance information (e.g., information related to tourist spots in the vicinity of the route of the bus 12), and advertising information (advertising information related to the operating company of the bus 12 or other companies, etc.) to multiple passengers on the bus 12.

This output unit 26 may output to the driver or passengers as an image, output to the driver or passengers as audio, or may wirelessly output to a mobile terminal 90 for the driver or passenger. Thus, one example of the output unit 26 is a display, another example is a speaker or earphones, and yet another example is a transmitter.

<System software configuration and algorithm overview>

When the system 10 receives a bus stop signal from any bus stop transmitter 30, it identifies the bus stop 14 in which that bus stop transmitter 30 is installed based on the bus stop signal, and when the system 10 receives a bus signal from any of the in-bus transmitters 32, 34, it identifies the bus 12 in which that in-bus transmitter 32, 34 is installed based on the bus signal.

The system 10 further determines whether the bus stop 14 and the bus 12 share the same space and/or the same time based on the bus stop signal received from the bus stop transmitter 30 and the bus signal received from the in-bus transmitters 32, 34, and if so, links the bus stop 14 and the bus 12 to each other in association with time, and estimates the status of the bus operation facility including the bus stop 14 and the bus 12 in association with time.

The system 10 further estimates the user's behavior status, including at least one of the user's position relative to a bus operation facility including multiple buses 12 and multiple bus stops 14, the user's behavior phase, and the user's movement speed, in association with time, based on at least one of the presence or absence of reception of the bus stop signal and the bus signal at the mobile terminal 90 at each time, the reception strength of the bus stop signal and the bus signal at the mobile terminal 90 at each time, and the temporal change characteristics of the reception strength of the bus stop signal and the bus signal at the mobile terminal 90.

Here, the user's behavior phases are classified into a waiting phase in which the user waits at any stop, a boarding phase in which the user boards any vehicle, and an alighting phase in which the user alights from any vehicle.

The waiting phase is defined as, for example, a phase in which the user of the mobile terminal 90 is waiting for the next bus 12 to arrive at one of the bus stops 14. The boarding phase is defined as, for example, a phase in which the user of the mobile terminal 90 boards a bus 12 because the bus 12 has arrived at one of the bus stops 14. The disembarking phase is defined as, for example, a phase in which the user of the mobile terminal 90, who is a passenger on the bus 12, disembarks from the bus 12 because the bus 12 has arrived at one of the bus stops 14.

<Waiting phase determination algorithm>

As illustrated in FIG. 3, when a user approaches one of the bus stops 14 with a mobile terminal 90 and enters the first reception range of the bus stop transmitter 30, as illustrated in FIG. 6(a), the reception intensity _I1 , which is the strength of the signal received by the mobile terminal 90 from the bus stop transmitter 30, increases with time t.

At this time, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user is in a waiting phase at the current bus stop 14, waiting for the next bus 12, and transmits the result to the management server 50.

The term "reception range" here refers to the range in which the mobile terminal 90 can effectively receive the bus stop signal from the bus stop transmitter 30, as will be described in detail later. The other reception ranges, the second and third reception ranges described below, have similar meanings.

As the user approaches further toward the bus stop transmitter 30, he or she eventually reaches a position closest to the bus stop transmitter 30, at which point the reception intensity _I1 reaches a maximum value Imax.

At this position, when the user touches the bus stop transmitter 30 with the mobile terminal 90 or holds the mobile terminal 90 over the bus stop transmitter 30 (approaching the bus stop transmitter 30 within a distance of, for example, 50 cm), the mobile terminal 90 transmits a boarding reservation signal to the management server 50 to request that the user make a reservation to board the next bus 12 scheduled to arrive at that bus stop 14.

<Riding phase determination algorithm>

As shown in Fig. 4, the bus 12 approaches the current bus stop 14 and eventually arrives and stops. In this stopped state, when the user approaches the boarding gate 16 of the current bus 12 from the current bus stop 14 together with the mobile terminal 90 to board the bus 12 from the boarding gate 16 and enters the second reception range of the boarding gate transmitter 32, the reception intensity _I2 , which is the intensity of the signal received by the mobile terminal 90 from the boarding gate transmitter 32, increases with time t, as shown in Fig. 6(b).

At this time, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user is in the boarding phase for boarding the current bus 12 (e.g., in boarding start mode where boarding has begun) and transmits the result to the management server 50.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the first reception range of the bus stop transmitter 30 and the second reception range of the boarding gate transmitter 32 of the bus 12 stopped at the bus stop 14 partially overlap each other.

Therefore, as illustrated in Figures 6(a) and (b), during the boarding phase, there is a simultaneous reception section in which the same mobile terminal 90 of the same user simultaneously receives the bus stop signal and the boarding gate signal from both the bus stop transmitter 30 and the boarding gate transmitter 32.

When the mobile terminal 90 experiences the simultaneous reception section, the mobile terminal 90 links the bus stop ID (an example of the aforementioned "bus stop ID") represented by the bus stop signal received from the bus stop transmitter 30 with the bus ID (an example of the aforementioned "vehicle ID") represented by the boarding gate signal received from the boarding gate transmitter 32, determines that the current user, the current bus stop 14, and the current bus 12 are associated with each other in the same physical space, and transmits the result to the management server 50.

Here, the phrase "the current user, the current bus stop 14, and the current bus 12 are associated with each other in the same physical space" means, if interpreted geometrically, that, for example, the three objects are associated with each other in the dimension of location rather than in the dimension of time (for example, the distance between the bus 12 and the bus stop 14 is less than a predetermined distance).

Furthermore, if interpreted in a phenomenal sense, this wording means, for example, that the current passenger is waiting at the current bus stop 14, and the current bus 12 that the passenger is about to board is about to stop at the current bus stop 14, or is stopped there, or that the current passenger has boarded the current bus 12 and the bus 12 has just departed.

If the user continues walking in the same direction, boards the bus 12 from the boarding entrance 16, and approaches the boarding entrance transmitter 32 located at the boarding entrance 16 of the bus 12, the user will eventually reach a position closest to the boarding entrance transmitter 32, at which point the reception intensity _I2 will reach a maximum value Imax.

At this position, when the user touches the boarding gate transmitter 32 with the mobile terminal 90 or holds the mobile terminal 90 over the boarding gate transmitter 32 (approaching the boarding gate transmitter 32 within a distance of, for example, 30 cm or 50 cm), the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user has completed boarding at the bus stop 14 and transmits the result to the management server 50.

<Disembarkation phase determination algorithm>

As shown in FIG. 5, a bus 12 carrying a passenger carrying a mobile terminal 90 approaches the current bus stop 14, and eventually arrives and stops. In this stopped state, a user approaches the exit 18 on the bus 12 together with the mobile terminal 90.

When the user enters the third reception range of the exit transmitter 34 while inside the bus 12, the reception intensity _I3 , which is the intensity of the signal received by the mobile terminal 90 from the exit transmitter 34, increases with time t, as shown in Fig. 6(c) . After that, the reception intensity _I3 reaches a maximum value Imax.

Thereafter, when the user moves away from the exit transmitter 34, the reception strength _I3 decreases. Because the exit transmitter 34 is disposed in the exit 18 and near the exterior panel of the bus 12, the decrease in reception strength _I3 is highly likely to reflect, in a phenomenal sense, the behavior of the user getting off the bus 12 from the exit transmitter 34.

Therefore, at this time, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the current user is in the disembarking phase where he or she is disembarking from the current bus 12 (e.g., in the disembarking start mode where disembarking has begun), and transmits the result to the management server 50.

When the bus 12 is stopped at the bus stop 14, as the user moves away from the exit transmitter 34, the user approaches the bus stop transmitter 30. As a result, as shown in Fig. 6(d), the reception intensity _I4 , which is the intensity of the signal received by the mobile terminal 90 from the bus stop transmitter 30, increases with time t.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the first reception range of the bus stop transmitter 30 and the third reception range of the exit transmitter 34 of the bus 12 stopped at the bus stop 14 partially overlap each other.

Therefore, as illustrated in Figures 6(c) and (d), during the alighting phase, there is a simultaneous reception section in which the same mobile terminal 90 of the same user simultaneously receives the bus stop signal and the alighting exit signal from both the bus stop transmitter 30 and the alighting exit transmitter 34.

When the mobile terminal 90 experiences the simultaneous reception section, the mobile terminal 90 links the bus ID represented by the boarding gate signal received from the exit gate transmitter 34 with the bus stop ID represented by the bus stop signal received from the bus stop transmitter 30, determines that the current user, the current bus stop 14, and the current bus 12 are associated with each other in the same physical space, and transmits the result to the management server 50.

Here, the phrase "the current user, the current bus stop 14, and the current bus 12 are associated with each other in the same physical space" can be interpreted in a phenomenological sense to mean, for example, that the current bus 12 from which the current passenger is about to get off is about to stop at the current bus stop 14, is stopped there, or has just departed (for example, the distance between the bus 12 and the bus stop 14 is less than a specified distance).

When the user continues walking in the same direction and moves away from the exit transmitter 34, the reception strength I4 eventually drops to 0. In response to this phenomenon, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user has completed disembarking from the bus 12 and transmits this result to the management server 50.

If the user continues walking in the same direction and approaches the bus stop transmitter 30, the user will eventually reach a position closest to the bus stop transmitter 30, at which point the reception intensity _I4 will reach a maximum value Imax. If the user then continues walking in the same direction and moves away from the bus stop transmitter 30, the reception intensity _I4 will decrease.

<An example of a bus route and assigning IDs to each element>

As shown in FIG. 7, in the bus route to which this system 10 is applied, multiple routes A and B share a single bus stop 14. Therefore, a bus 14 operating on route A and a bus 14 operating on route B stop at the same bus stop 14 at different times.

As shown in FIG. 7, a unique identifier, i.e., ID, is pre-assigned to the bus stop 14 itself, the bus stop transmitter 30 at the bus stop 14, the bus 12 itself, and the boarding entrance transmitter 32 and the exit entrance transmitter 34 within the bus 12.

In particular, the boarding entrance transmitter 32 and the exit entrance transmitter 34 are assigned both an ID portion unique to the bus 12 on which the transmitters 32 and 34 are commonly installed (e.g., a main ID), and an ID portion unique to each of the transmitters 32 and 34 (e.g., a sub-ID). In the example shown in FIG. 7, when the sub-ID of a certain transmitter is "1", it indicates that the transmitter is a boarding entrance transmitter 32, while when the sub-ID of a certain transmitter is "2", it indicates that the transmitter is a exit entrance transmitter 34.

＜Transmitter＞

Figure 8 shows a functional block diagram of the bus stop transmitter 30, the boarding entrance transmitter 32, and the disembarking entrance transmitter 34 shown in Figure 1, all of which have a common configuration.

Because the bus stop transmitter 30, the boarding entrance transmitter 32, and the disembarking entrance transmitter 34 have a common configuration, the common configuration will be explained below by referring to Figure 8 and representatively describing only the bus stop transmitter 30.

First, conceptually, the bus stop transmitter 30 is a non-contact or contact (proximity) communication device that locally emits an identification signal that can identify a unique transmitter ID.

Next, to explain how it works, the bus stop transmitter 30 actively transmits a unique identification signal locally without the need for an external trigger signal, and continuously so long as there is no power shortage.

The bus stop transmitter 30 is a device that is generally known as a beacon device, a radio beacon, or the like, that transmits a beacon signal as an identification signal. In one example, the bus stop transmitter 30 generates an identification signal representing the corresponding transmitter ID by modulating an original signal, and transmits the generated identification signal locally as an IR signal, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) signal, an NFC (near field communication) signal, or the like.

Next, referring to FIG. 8, the hardware configuration will be described. The bus stop transmitter 30 is mainly composed of a computer 104 having a processor 100 and a memory 102 that stores multiple applications executed by the processor 100.

This bus stop transmitter 30 further has a replaceable disposable battery 106 as a power source. Instead of the battery 106, it is possible to use a rechargeable battery, or a commercial power source or a solar cell as an external power source.

When a solar cell is used as the external power source, surplus electrical energy generated by the solar cell during the day can be stored in a battery, and at night, battery energy can be extracted from the battery to operate the bus stop transmitter 30.

The bus stop transmitter 30 further includes a transmitter 108 that generates and transmits an identification signal. The transmitter 108 is powered by a battery 106 and controlled by a controller 110. The controller 110 is controlled by the computer 100.

To explain the software configuration of the bus stop transmitter 30, the processor 100 outputs a signal to the controller 110 to modulate the original signal (e.g., a carrier signal) so that the transmitter ID is reflected. The controller 110 controls the transmitter 108, which then generates the identification signal to be transmitted. The generated identification signal is then transmitted from the transmitter 108.

Next, the bus stop transmitter 30, the boarding gate transmitter 32, and the disembarking gate transmitter 34 will be described individually with reference to Figures 9 to 11.

Each bus stop transmitter 30 emits a unique signal, which represents a unique transmitter ID. For each bus stop transmitter 30, it is known which bus stop 14 it is installed at, and the spatial coordinate values (x, y, z) of that bus stop 14 are also known. Therefore, if the signal received from the bus stop transmitter 30 is converted into a transmitter ID according to a predetermined signal (e.g., a binary signal sequence)-ID relationship, the ID of the bus stop 14 at which the bus stop transmitter 30 is installed and the geographic location of that bus stop 14 can each be uniquely determined from the transmitter ID.

In FIG. 9, the bus stop transmitter ID management table is shown in tabular form. This table is stored in the memory of the management server 50, and when accessed from the mobile terminal 90, the table is downloaded from the management server 50 to the mobile terminal 90 and stored in its memory 132. In this table, the relationship between the transmitter ID of the bus stop transmitter 30, the bus stop ID of the bus stop 14 where the bus stop transmitter 30 is installed, and the bus stop name of the bus stop 14 is defined for each transmitter ID.

Each entrance transmitter 32 emits a unique signal, which represents a unique transmitter ID. For each entrance transmitter 32, it is known which bus 12 it is installed on, and it is also known which of the entrances 16 and the exits 18 of that bus 12 it is installed on. Therefore, if a signal received from the entrance transmitter 32 is converted into a transmitter ID according to a predetermined signal (e.g., a binary signal sequence)-ID relationship, it is possible to univocally determine from the transmitter ID the ID of the bus 12 on which the entrance transmitter 32 is installed and that the entrance transmitter 32 is an entrance transmitter and not an exit transmitter.

Each exit transmitter 34 emits a unique signal, which represents a unique transmitter ID. For each exit transmitter 34, it is known which bus 12 it is installed on, and it is also known which of the boarding entrance 16 and the alighting entrance 18 of that bus 12 it is installed on. Therefore, if a signal received from an exit transmitter 34 is converted into a transmitter ID according to a predetermined signal (e.g., a binary signal sequence)-ID relationship, the transmitter ID univocally determines the ID of the bus 12 on which the exit transmitter 34 is installed and that the exit transmitter 34 is an exit transmitter and not an entry transmitter.

In FIG. 10, the bus transmitter ID management table is shown in tabular form. This table is stored in the memory of the management server 50, and when accessed from the mobile terminal 90, the table is downloaded from the management server 50 to the mobile terminal 90 and stored in its memory 132. In this table, the relationship between the transmitter IDs of the boarding entrance transmitter 32 and the exiting entrance transmitter 34, the bus ID of the bus 12 on which the boarding entrance transmitter 32 or the exiting entrance transmitter 34 is installed, and the route ID representing the route applied to that bus 12 is defined for each transmitter ID.

In FIG. 11, the effective reception radius management table is shown in tabular form. This table is stored in the memory of the management server 50, and when accessed from the mobile terminal 90, the table is downloaded from the management server 50 to the mobile terminal 90 and stored in its memory 132. In this table, the relationship between the transmitter IDs of the bus stop transmitter 30, the boarding entrance transmitter 32, and the disembarking entrance transmitter 34 and the effective reception radius described below is defined for each transmitter ID.

According to this effective reception radius management table, the mobile terminal 90 variably sets the effective reception radius depending on the type of transmitter 30, 32, 34 it is receiving from (whether for the bus stop 14, the boarding entrance 16, or the disembarking entrance 18), making it possible to set the effective reception radius individually for each transmitter 30, 32, 34.

To explain the variable setting of the effective reception radius in detail, in the example of the standby phase shown in FIG. 3, when the mobile terminal 90 receives a signal from the bus stop transmitter 30, the first effective reception radius R1 that defines the first reception area forming a circle centered on the bus stop transmitter 30 is set to 5 m (see FIG. 11).

In the example of the boarding phase shown in FIG. 4, when the mobile terminal 90 receives a signal from the boarding entrance transmitter 32, it sets the second effective receiving radius R2, which defines a second receiving area forming a circle centered on the boarding entrance transmitter 32, to 1 m (see FIG. 11).

In the example of the disembarking phase shown in FIG. 5, when the mobile terminal 90 receives a signal from the disembarking exit transmitter 34, it sets the third effective receiving radius R3, which defines a third receiving area forming a circle centered on the disembarking exit transmitter 34, to 1 m (see FIG. 11).

＜Mobile devices＞

The mobile terminal 90 is a device that is carried by a user and has wireless communication capabilities, such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a PDA, etc. The mobile terminal 90 is also an example of a user's communication terminal.

Next, referring to FIG. 12, the hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 90 will be described. The mobile terminal 90 is mainly composed of a computer 134 having a processor 130 and a memory 132 that stores multiple programs (also called "applications") executed by the processor 130.

The mobile terminal 90 further includes a display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display) 136 that displays information, a receiving unit 138 that receives signals from the bus stop transmitter 30 and the management server 50, and a transmitting unit 140 that generates a signal and transmits the signal to the management server 50. Here, the receiving unit 138 is also a part that detects the identification signal from the bus stop transmitter 30.

The mobile terminal 90 further has an input unit 150 for inputting data and commands from the user. The input unit 150 has, for example, an operation unit that can be operated by the user to input desired information (e.g., commands, data, etc.) to the mobile terminal 90. The operation unit can be, but is not limited to, a touch screen that displays icons (e.g., virtual buttons) that can be operated by the user, a physical operation unit (e.g., a keyboard, keypad, buttons, etc.) that can be operated by the user, a microphone that detects voice, etc.

The mobile terminal 90 further includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 152. As is well known, the GPS receiver 152 receives multiple GPS signals from multiple GPS satellites and uses triangulation to measure the position (latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the GPS receiver 152 on the Earth based on those GPS signals.

The mobile terminal 90 further includes an acceleration sensor 154 that detects its own acceleration. Because the acceleration sensor 154 is mounted on the mobile terminal 90, it vibrates integrally with the mobile terminal 90, and as a result, it detects the acceleration acting on the acceleration sensor 154 itself as equivalent to the acceleration acting on the mobile terminal 90 and the user carrying it.

The acceleration sensor 154 may be of a type such as a semiconductor piezoresistance type, a capacitance type, or a thermal detection type. In one example, the acceleration sensor 154 can be designed to detect accelerations Gx, Gy, and Gz in three axial directions, the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis, respectively, and output a single representative acceleration as a composite value Gr of the three detected values Gx, Gy, and Gz.

When a user is carrying a mobile terminal 90, this acceleration sensor 154 detects an acceleration that is close to that acting on the user, and when the user is in a vehicle, it detects an acceleration that is close to that acting on the vehicle (e.g., forward/rearward acceleration, forward/rearward deceleration).

Theoretically, the acceleration acting on the mobile terminal 90 can be calculated by calculating the speed by time-differentiating the position measured based on the above-mentioned GPS signal, and then further differentiating the speed with respect to time. However, in terms of accuracy, the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 154 may be superior. In any case, the acceleration sensor 154 is an example of an acceleration acquisition unit that detects or estimates the axial acceleration of the vehicle.

Here, we will explain one function of the user's mobile terminal 90 in relation to the bus stop transmitter 30. When the mobile terminal 90 receives an identification signal from the bus stop transmitter 30, and starts (logs in) a certain program pre-installed in the computer of the mobile terminal 90, i.e., a dedicated application for guide transmitter processing (hereinafter referred to as the "transmitter application"), the mobile terminal 90 demodulates the received identification signal, thereby deciphering the transmitter ID.

Furthermore, when the mobile terminal 90 starts the transmitter application while receiving an identification signal from the bus stop transmitter 30, the mobile terminal 90 also measures the distance between the position of the bus stop transmitter 30 when it transmitted the identification signal and the position of the mobile terminal 90 when it received the identification signal, based on the received identification signal (e.g., the strength of the identification signal).

In other words, based on the identification signal received from the bus stop transmitter 30, the mobile terminal 90 acquires both the transmitter ID unique to that bus stop transmitter 30 and the distance from the bus stop transmitter 30 at that time.

<Transmitter reception range>

The bus stop transmitter 30, the boarding entrance transmitter 32, and the exit entrance transmitter 34 are each assigned two types of reception areas: a receivable area and an effective reception area (hereinafter also referred to as the "reception range" or "reception zone").

Each of these areas is generally defined by a sphere centered on the location of each transmitter 30, 32, and 34. Some examples of coverage areas are shown in Figures 3-5, as discussed above.

The receivable area of each transmitter 30, 32, 34 has a maximum reception radius (e.g., about 50 m), while the effective reception area has an effective reception radius (e.g., any value within the range of 0 m to about 50 m). While the maximum reception radius is a fixed value, the effective reception radius is a variable value that can be set at any time by the mobile terminal 90, as described below.

The reception area refers to the area in which the identification signal from each transmitter 30, 32, 34 can reach when the power supply to each transmitter 30, 32, 34 is normal, that is, the area in which the mobile terminal 90 can receive the identification signal as long as it is within that area.

In contrast, the effective reception area has an effective reception radius that is smaller than the maximum reception radius of the receivable area. The maximum reception radius cannot be set arbitrarily, whereas the effective reception radius can be set arbitrarily using software on the mobile terminal 90.

In other words, the maximum reception radius refers to the reception limit determined by the hardware, whereas the effective reception radius refers to the reception limit determined by the software.

As described above, the mobile terminal 90 measures the distance to each of the transmitters 30, 32, and 34 based on the strength of the identification signal it receives. FIG. 13 is a graph illustrating how the reception strength RSSI, which is the strength of the signal received by the mobile terminal 90 from each of the transmitters 30, 32, and 34, decreases as the distance D between the mobile terminal 90 and each of the transmitters 30, 32, and 34 increases. By referring to the characteristics represented by this graph, the mobile terminal 90 can convert the reception strength RSSI into a distance measurement value D.

The distance measurement value D may or may not exceed the effective reception radius _r0 , which is a variable setting value. When the distance measurement value D does not exceed the effective reception radius _r0 , this means that the mobile terminal 90 is present within the effective reception area, whereas when the distance measurement value D exceeds the effective reception radius _r0 , this means that the mobile terminal 90 is present within a receivable area but not within the effective reception area.

13 shows a graph showing the strength of signals received by the mobile terminal 90 from each transmitter 30, 32, 34, regardless of whether the distance measurement value D exceeds the effective reception radius _r0 or not, and a graph obtained by shifting the absolute reception intensity Ia graph downward for the sake of convenience of explanation so that reception intensity exists only in the area where the distance measurement value D does not exceed the effective reception radius _r0 . If the former graph is called the graph showing the absolute reception intensity Ia, the latter graph can be called the graph showing the relative reception intensity Ir. Each of the graphs in FIG. 6(a) to (d) is created using the relative reception intensity Ir.

<Administration Server>

Next, to explain the hardware configuration of the management server 50, FIG. 14 shows a functional block diagram of the management server 50. The management server 50 is mainly composed of a computer 164 having a processor 160 and a memory 162 that stores multiple applications executed by the processor 160.

The management server 50 further includes a display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display) 166 that displays information, a receiving unit 168 that receives signals from the mobile terminal 90, a transmitting unit 170 that generates signals and transmits them to the mobile terminal 90, and a clock 172. The management server 50 does not receive information directly from the transmitter 30, but rather receives information via the mobile terminal 90.

<Software configuration of the bus operation management system>

<Overview>

This system 10 has a bus operation management program as a software configuration. The bus operation management program is explained by classifying it into phases. FIG. 15 shows a conceptual flowchart of a waiting phase determination program based on the waiting phase determination algorithm described above, which includes a module executed by the mobile terminal 90 and a module executed by the management server 50. FIG. 16 shows a conceptual flowchart of a boarding phase determination program based on the boarding phase determination algorithm described above, which includes a module executed by the mobile terminal 90 and a module executed by the management server 50. FIG. 17 shows a conceptual flowchart of a disembarking phase determination program based on the disembarking phase determination algorithm described above, which includes a module executed by the mobile terminal 90 and a module executed by the management server 50.

＜Waiting Phase Judgment Program＞

When the bus operation management program is started, as shown in FIG. 15, first, in step S1301, the mobile terminal 90 sends a request to log in to the management server 50 together with the user ID to the management server 50.

In response, in step S1351, the management server 50 receives the request together with the user ID and registers the user ID in the memory 162 as the current user of the system 10. Next, in step S1352, the management server 50 reads from the memory 162 the bus stop transmitter ID management table shown in FIG. 9, the bus internal transmitter ID management table shown in FIG. 10, the effective receiving radius management table shown in FIG. 11, and an operation management table (not shown) for managing the multiple buses 12, multiple routes, multiple bus stops 14, and timetables (such as bus timetables, route timetables, and bus stop timetables) that are centrally managed by the system 10, and transmits them to the mobile terminal 90.

In response to this, the mobile terminal 90 downloads these tables from the management server 50 in step S1302, and then stores these tables in the memory 132 in step S1303. After that, in step S1304, the mobile terminal 90 attempts to receive signals indiscriminately from any of the multiple transmitters 30, 32, and 34 without restricting the source of the signals.

Then, the mobile terminal 90 executes step S1305. This step is divided into a first stage, a second stage, and a third stage.

In the first stage, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether it has received a signal from at least one of all bus stop transmitters 30 at all bus stops 14 and all in-bus transmitters 32 and 34 at all buses 12. If it has received a signal, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether it has received a signal from any of the bus stop transmitters 30 from the transmitter ID represented by each received signal. If a received signal exists, it determines whether the signal is from any of the bus stop transmitters 30.

In addition, in this first stage, the judgment result is provisional. This is because the judgment of whether the reception is within the aforementioned coverage area, i.e., ineffective reception, or within the aforementioned effective reception area, i.e., the first reception range, i.e., effective reception, will be made in the next stage.

If it is determined that the mobile terminal 90 has received a signal from any of the bus stop transmitters 30, in the second stage, the mobile terminal 90 measures the strength RSSI (absolute reception strength Ia) of the received signal and converts the strength measurement value into a distance measurement value D as described above.

Then, in a third stage, the mobile terminal 90 reads from the memory 132 the effective reception radius _r0 corresponding to the transmitter ID represented by the received signal, and if the distance measurement value D is equal to or less than the effective reception radius _r0 , it determines that the user is located at any of the bus stops 14, and therefore the mobile terminal 90 is within the first reception range of any of the bus stop transmitters 30, and as a result, the mobile terminal 90 has validly received a signal from that any of the bus stop transmitters 30. This determination is final.

If it is determined that the mobile terminal 90 has validly received a signal from the bus stop transmitter 30, the determination in step S1305 will be YES; otherwise, the determination will be NO and the process will return to step S1304.

In step S1304, the source of the signal is not limited to a specific transmitter, and the mobile terminal 90 attempts to receive signals from any transmitter indiscriminately. In other words, a random reception attempt is performed.

However, in this case, even though the mobile terminal 90 uses only the signal from one of the bus stop transmitters 30 in step S1306 described below, the signals from the bus internal transmitters 32 and 34 of an unscheduled bus 12 that happens to pass by one of the bus stops 14 will also be processed in step S1305.

To prevent this, for example, prior to execution of step S1304, multiple bus stop transmitters 30 may be selected as target transmitters, but multiple in-bus transmitters 32 and 34 may not be selected, and then, only if the signal received by the mobile terminal 90 in step S1304 is a signal from a target transmitter, processing using the received signal may be performed in steps after step S1305.

The reception attempt in step S1304 in this manner is called a targeted reception attempt, in contrast to the above-mentioned promiscuous reception attempt. This targeted reception attempt allows for more efficient signal processing than a promiscuous reception attempt in a communication environment where the source of the signal is originally restricted.

However, in this manner, although the range of the transmitter is limited, the reception attempt in step S1304 targets the bus stop transmitters 30 of all bus stops 14, or in some cases, the bus stop transmitters 30 of multiple bus stops 14 located near the current location measured by the mobile terminal 90 among all bus stops 14, and the target transmitters are not limited to one or two.

Therefore, in relative terms, even the reception attempt in step S1304 in this manner may be classified as a random reception attempt. However, in comparison with the case where all transmitters 30, 32, and 34 are the reception targets, there is no problem in calling the reception attempt in step S1304 in this manner a targeted reception attempt.

If the determination in step S1305 is YES, in step S1306, the mobile terminal 90 converts the signal received from the current bus stop transmitter 30 into a bus stop ID by referring to the table in Figure 9.

Then, in step S1307, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user is in the waiting phase, and then in step S1308, transmits waiting phase information including the fact that the user is in the waiting phase where he or she is waiting at the current bus stop 14 (e.g., a combination of the bus stop ID, the user ID, and the waiting phase flag) to the management server 50 in association with the user ID.

In response to this, in step S1353, the management server 50 receives the standby phase information from the portable terminal 90, and then in step S1354, measures the time at that time using the clock 172 and assigns this time to the reception time _t1 at which the management server 50 received the standby phase information from the portable terminal 90. After that, in step S1355, the management server 50 associates the user-specific status management table, i.e., the phase history list (user chronological behavior list) illustrated in Fig. 18 and assigned to the memory 162, with the reception time _t1 , and updates it so that the current standby phase information is reflected.

After executing step S1308, in step S1309, the mobile terminal 90 converts the current bus stop ID into the name of the current bus stop 14 by referring to the table shown in FIG. 9, and displays the bus stop name on the screen of the mobile terminal 90, thereby informing the user that the mobile terminal 90 and the bus stop transmitter 30 have recognized that the user is currently at the bus stop 14 through the cooperative action of the mobile terminal 90 and the bus stop transmitter 30.

Then, in step S1310, the mobile device 90 displays on the screen all of the multiple routes that pass through the current bus stop 14. Next, in step S1310, the mobile device 90 assists the user in inputting a destination. Then, in step S1312, the mobile device 90 selects, from all of the routes, those that match the input destination as multiple candidate routes, and displays the candidate routes on the screen.

Next, in step S1313, the mobile device 90 assists the user in selecting one of the candidate routes as the desired route, and then in step S1314, displays the selected desired route on the screen.

Next, the mobile terminal 90 assists the user in inputting the bus stop 14 at which the user wishes to disembark from among the multiple bus stops 14 along the desired route as the desired disembarkation bus stop.

According to this embodiment, the user is requested to input the desired bus stop for disembarking before boarding the bus. Meanwhile, information regarding the desired bus stop for disembarking is transmitted from the management server 50 to the bus in-bus communication device 20. This is convenient because the driver of the bus 12 can know the bus stop 14 where the bus 12 needs to stop, not just before the bus stops, but earlier. In addition, it is convenient because the user does not have to press the disembark button installed on the bus 12 before disembarking each time.

Then, in step S1316, the mobile terminal 90 assists the user in inputting whether or not the user requires assistance from the driver of the bus 12 when boarding and disembarking due to circumstances such as the user being physically weak.

Then, in step S1317, the mobile terminal 90 assists the user in selecting a time to board the bus 12 at the currently selected bus stop 14 from among the multiple boarding times displayed in the timetable. After that, in step S1318, the mobile terminal 90 displays on the screen the bus ID of the bus 12 that the user should board (hereinafter referred to as the "desired bus") on the screen.

Then, in step S1319, the mobile terminal 90 sets the current bus stop transmitter 30 as the target transmitter and sets the same transmitter ID as the target transmitter ID, and then, in step S1320, attempts to receive a signal from the bus stop transmitter 30 that is the target transmitter.

This attempt is not an indiscriminate reception attempt in which an attempt is made to indiscriminately receive signals as in step S1304 described above, but rather a targeted reception attempt in the sense that it results in only receiving a specific signal (e.g., if a signal other than a specific signal is received, further processing of that signal is stopped and that signal is excluded from processing).

Then, in step S1321, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not it has received a signal from the current bus stop transmitter 30, and if so, determines whether or not the mobile terminal 90 has been touched (or held over) the current bus stop transmitter 30.

Specifically, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the distance measurement value D is equal to or less than a reference value that is shorter than 30 cm-50 cm, and if it is equal to or less than the reference value, it determines that the user has touched the current bus stop transmitter 30 with the mobile terminal 90. In that case, the determination in step S1321 is YES, but otherwise the determination is NO and the process returns to step S1320.

If the determination in step S1321 is YES, in step S1322, the mobile terminal 90 converts the transmitter ID represented by the currently received signal into a bus stop ID, and then in step S1323, confirms that a match is established between that bus stop ID and the bus stop ID obtained in the aforementioned step S1306.

Incidentally, since step S1320 described above performs a target reception attempt, in that step, the current bus stop ID is identified as the only bus stop ID, and then only the bus stop transmitter 30 installed at the bus stop 14 having that bus stop ID is noticed as the source of the signal. Therefore, in the subsequent steps S1322 and S1323, it is not essential and can be omitted to obtain the current bus stop ID and compare it with the bus stop ID obtained in the above-mentioned step S1306.

Then, in step S1324, the mobile terminal 90 displays on the screen that the user has made a boarding reservation to board the desired bus 12 from the current bus stop 14 at the desired boarding time. Next, in step S1325, the mobile terminal 90 transmits boarding reservation information, including the fact that the user has made a boarding reservation to board the desired bus 12 from the current bus stop 14 at the desired boarding time (for example, a combination of the bus stop ID, bus ID, user ID, and boarding reservation flag) and that the user has touched the bus stop transmitter 30 with the mobile terminal 90, to the management server 50 in association with the user ID.

In response to this, in step S1356, the management server 50 receives the boarding reservation information from the mobile terminal 90, and then in step S1357, measures the current time using the clock 172 and assigns this time to the reception time _t2 at which the management server 50 received the boarding reservation information from the mobile terminal 90. Thereafter, in step S1358, the management server 50 updates the user-specific status management table illustrated in Fig. 18 so as to associate the reception time _t2 with the current boarding reservation information. This completes the reservation for boarding the desired bus 12 for the current user.

Next, in step S1359, the management server 50 increments the number of reserved passengers for this bus 12 and stores it in memory 162.

Then, in step S1360, the mobile terminal 90 transmits to the bus communication device 20 that there is a user who will require assistance from the driver when boarding the bus at the current bus stop 14 and when disembarking at the desired bus stop. This notifies the driver of the bus 12 whether assistance is required.

<Ride Phase Judgment Program>

When the execution of the above-mentioned waiting phase determination program is completed, as shown in FIG. 16, first, in step S1401, the mobile terminal 90 sets the transmitter ID of the bus stop transmitter 30 of the current bus stop 14 and the transmitter ID of the boarding gate transmitter 32 of the current desired bus 12 as the target transmitter IDs.

Next, in step S1402, the mobile terminal 90 attempts to receive signals from the current bus stop transmitter 30 and the current boarding entrance transmitter 32, respectively, which are set as target transmitters. This is a target reception attempt.

Next, in step S1403, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not it has effectively received signals simultaneously from both the bus stop transmitter 30, which is the current target, and the boarding gate transmitter 32, which is the current target.

Specifically, if the distance measurement value D calculated based on the reception strength RSSI of the signal received from the current bus stop transmitter 30 is equal to or less than the effective reception radius corresponding to that bus stop transmitter 30, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the signal has been validly received from the current bus stop transmitter 30.

Furthermore, if the mobile terminal 90 receives a signal from the current boarding gate transmitter 32 and the distance measurement value D calculated based on the received signal is equal to or less than the effective reception radius corresponding to that boarding gate transmitter 32, it determines that the signal has been validly received from the current boarding gate transmitter 32.

If the mobile terminal 90 determines in step S1403 that it has effectively received signals simultaneously from both the bus stop transmitter 30, which is the current target, and the boarding gate transmitter 32, which is the current target, the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step S1404; if not, the determination is NO and the process returns to step S1402.

In step S1404, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user is in the boarding phase, and then in step S1405, determines that the user is in the boarding start phase. After that, in step S1406, the mobile terminal 90 converts the transmitter ID represented by the signal validly received from the bus stop transmitter 30 into a bus stop ID, and further converts the transmitter ID represented by the signal validly received from the boarding gate transmitter 32 into a bus ID.

Then, in step S1407, the mobile terminal 90 links the bus stop ID and the bus ID to each other, and determines that the current user, the current bus stop 14, and the current bus 12 are associated with each other in the same physical space. Next, in step S1408, the mobile terminal 90 transmits to the management server 50 boarding phase information including the fact that the user is in the boarding phase where he/she boards a specific bus 12 at a specific bus stop 14 (for example, a combination of a bus stop ID, a bus ID, a user ID, and a boarding phase flag), the combination of the linked bus stop ID and bus ID (linking information), and the fact that the user has touched the boarding gate transmitter 32 with the mobile terminal 90, associated with the user ID.

In response to this, in step S1451, the management server 50 receives the riding phase information from the mobile terminal 90, and then in step S1452, measures the time at that time using the clock 172 and assigns that time to a reception time _t3 at which the management server 50 received the riding phase information (including the linking information) from the mobile terminal 90. Thereafter, in step S1453, the management server 50 associates the user-specific status management table illustrated in Fig. 18 assigned to the memory 162 with the reception time _t3 , and updates it so that the current riding phase information is reflected.

After executing step S1408, in step S1409, the mobile terminal 90 converts the current bus ID into the number (or name, symbol) of the current bus 12 by referring to the table shown in FIG. 10 and displays the bus number on the screen of the mobile terminal 90, thereby informing the user that the mobile terminal 90 and the boarding gate transmitter 32 have recognized that the user is currently boarding the bus 12.

Then, in step S1410, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the bus 12 having that bus number is the user's desired bus for this time. Unless there are special circumstances, this determination will be YES. Next, in step S1411, the mobile terminal 90 displays a message on the screen (e.g., "Please board this bus.") to encourage the user to board the bus 12 in which the boarding gate transmitter 32 that transmitted the signal that the mobile terminal 90 has validly received is installed, i.e., the bus 12 that is presumed to be stopped at the current bus stop 14.

Then, in step S1412, the mobile terminal 90 sets the transmitter ID of the current boarding gate transmitter 32 as the target transmitter ID. Next, in step S1413, the mobile terminal 90 attempts to receive a signal from the current boarding gate transmitter 32, using that transmitter 32 as the target transmitter. A target reception attempt is performed.

Then, in step S1414, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not it has received a signal from the current boarding gate transmitter 32, and if so, determines whether or not the mobile terminal 90 has been touched (or held over) the current boarding gate transmitter 32.

Specifically, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the distance measurement value D is equal to or less than a reference value that is shorter than 30 cm-50 cm, and if it is equal to or less than the reference value, it determines that the user has touched the current boarding gate transmitter 32 with the mobile terminal 90. In that case, the determination in step S1414 is YES, but otherwise the determination is NO and the process returns to step S1413.

Then, in step S1415, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user has completed boarding the desired bus 12, and then in step S1416, transmits boarding completion information, including the user's completion of boarding the desired bus 12 (e.g., a combination of the bus ID, user ID, and boarding completion flag) and the user's touching of the boarding gate transmitter 32 with the mobile terminal 90, to the management server 50 in association with the user ID.

In response to this, in step S1454, the management server 50 receives the boarding completion information from the mobile terminal 90, and then in step S1455, measures the time at that time using the clock 172 and assigns that time to a reception time _t4 at which the management server 50 received the boarding completion information from the mobile terminal 90. Thereafter, in step S1456, the management server 50 associates the user-specific status management table illustrated in Fig. 18 allocated to the memory 162 with the reception time _t4 , and updates it so that the current boarding completion information is reflected.

Next, in step S1457, the management server 50 registers the reception time _t4 in the memory 162 as the user's actual boarding time, and then in step S1458, increments the actual number of passengers for the current bus 12 and stores it in the memory 162.

＜Disembarkation phase determination program＞

When the execution of the boarding phase determination program described above is completed, as shown in FIG. 17, first, in step S1501, the mobile terminal 90 sets the transmitter ID of the exit gate transmitter 34 of the current bus 12 as the unique target transmitter ID.

Next, in step S1502, the mobile terminal 90 attempts to receive a signal from the current exit transmitter 34, which it regards as a target transmitter. This is a target reception attempt.

Next, in step S1503, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not a signal has been validly received from the exit transmitter 34, which is the current target.

Specifically, if the distance measurement value D calculated based on the reception strength RSSI of the signal received from the current exit transmitter 34 is equal to or less than the effective reception radius corresponding to that exit transmitter 34, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the signal has been validly received from the current exit transmitter 34.

If the mobile terminal 90 determines in step S1503 that it has validly received a signal from the exit transmitter 34, which is the current target, the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step S1504; if not, the determination is NO and the process returns to step S1502.

In step S1504, the mobile terminal 90 measures the reception strength RSSI of the signal received from the exit transmitter 34, and then in step S1505, it is determined whether the current measurement value of the reception strength RSSI is lower than the previous measurement value. Here, the phenomenon in which the reception strength RSSI decreases over time is an example of a dynamic characteristic of the received signal, and is also an example of the aforementioned "temporal change characteristic." It is possible to estimate that this phenomenon reflects, for example, the user moving away from the exit transmitter 34.

If the current measured value of the reception strength RSSI is not lower than the previous measured value, the determination is NO and the process returns to step S1502. However, if the current measured value of the reception strength RSSI is lower than the previous measured value, the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step S1506.

In step S1506, the mobile terminal 90 sets the transmitter ID of the bus stop transmitter 30 of the current desired alighting bus stop 14 and the transmitter ID of the alighting exit transmitter 34 of the current bus 12 as the two target transmitter IDs.

Then, in step S1507, the mobile terminal 90 attempts to receive signals from the current bus stop transmitter 30 and the current exit transmitter 34, respectively, as target transmitters. This is a target reception attempt.

Next, in step S1508, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not it has effectively received signals simultaneously from both the bus stop transmitter 30, which is the current target, and the exit gate transmitter 34, which is the current target.

Specifically, if the distance measurement value D calculated based on the reception strength RSSI of the signal received from the current bus stop transmitter 30 is equal to or less than the effective reception radius corresponding to that bus stop transmitter 30, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the signal has been validly received from the current bus stop transmitter 30.

Furthermore, if the distance measurement value D calculated based on the signal received from the current exit transmitter 34 is less than or equal to the effective reception radius corresponding to that exit transmitter 34, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the signal has been validly received from the current exit transmitter 34.

If in this step S1508 the mobile terminal 90 determines that it has effectively received signals simultaneously from both the current target bus stop transmitter 30 and the current target exit transmitter 34, the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step S1509; otherwise, the determination is NO and the process returns to step S1507.

In step S1509, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user is in the disembarking phase, and then in step S1510, determines that the user is in the disembarking start phase. Then, in step S1511, the mobile terminal 90 converts the transmitter ID represented by the signal validly received from the bus stop transmitter 30 into a bus stop ID, and further converts the transmitter ID represented by the signal validly received from the exit transmitter 34 into a bus ID.

Then, in step S1512, the mobile terminal 90 links the bus stop ID and the bus ID to each other, and determines that the current user, the current bus stop 14, and the current bus 12 are associated with each other in the same physical space. Next, in step S1513, the mobile terminal 90 associates with the user ID and transmits to the management server 50, the information that indicates that the user is in the disembarking phase where he or she disembarks from a specific bus 12 at a specific bus stop 14 (for example, a combination of a bus stop ID, a bus ID, a user ID, and a disembarking phase flag), and the disembarking phase information including the combination of the linked bus stop ID and bus ID (linking information).

In response to this, in step S1551, the management server 50 receives the disembarking phase information from the mobile terminal 90, and then in step S1552, measures the time at that time using the clock 172 and assigns that time to a reception time _t5 at which the management server 50 received the disembarking phase information (including the linking information) from the mobile terminal 90. Thereafter, in step S1553, the management server 50 associates the user-specific status management table illustrated in Fig. 18 allocated to the memory 162 with the reception time _t5 , and updates it so that the current disembarking phase information is reflected.

After executing step S1513, in step S1514, the mobile terminal 90 converts the current bus stop ID into the name of the current bus stop 14 by referring to the table shown in FIG. 9 and displays the name on the screen of the mobile terminal 90, thereby informing the user that the mobile terminal 90 and the exit transmitter 34 have recognized that the user has now alighted at that bus stop 14.

Then, in step S1515, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the bus stop 14 having that name is the user's desired bus stop for this time. Unless there are special circumstances, this determination will be YES. Next, in step S1516, the mobile terminal 90 displays a message on the screen (e.g., "Please get off at this bus stop.") to encourage the user to get off from the current bus 12 at the bus stop 14 where the bus stop transmitter 30 that transmitted the signal that the mobile terminal 90 validly received is installed, i.e., the bus stop 14 where the bus 12 is presumed to be stopped.

Then, in step S1517, the mobile terminal 90 sets the transmitter ID of the current bus stop transmitter 30 as the target transmitter ID. Next, in step S1518, the mobile terminal 90 attempts to receive a signal from the current bus stop transmitter 30, using that transmitter 30 as the target transmitter. A target reception attempt is performed.

Then, in step S1519, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not a signal has been validly received from the current bus stop transmitter 30, in the same manner as in step S1503 described above. If the signal has been validly received, the determination is YES and the process returns to step S1518, but if the signal has not been validly received, the determination is NO and the process proceeds to step S1520.

In step S1520, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user has completed disembarking from the desired bus 12, and then in step S1521, disembarking completion information including the user's completion of disembarking from the desired bus 12 (e.g., a combination of the bus ID, user ID, and disembarking completion flag) is associated with the user ID and transmitted to the management server 50.

In response to this, in step S1554, the management server 50 receives the disembarking completion information from the mobile terminal 90, and then in step S1555, measures the time at that time using the clock 172 and assigns this time to a reception time _t6 at which the management server 50 received the boarding completion information from the mobile terminal 90. Thereafter, in step S1556, the management server 50 updates the user-specific status management table illustrated in Fig. 18 assigned to the memory 162 by associating it with the reception time _t6 so that the current disembarking completion information is reflected.

Next, in step S1557, the management server 50 registers the reception time _t6 in the memory 162 as the user's actual disembarking time, and then in step S1558, decrements the actual number of passengers for the current bus 12 and stores it in the memory 162.

As is clear from the above explanation, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, when the bus 12 stops at the bus stop 14, the second reception range of the boarding entrance transmitter 32 partially overlaps with the first reception range of the bus stop transmitter 30. Based on this, when the mobile terminal 90 detects a state in which it receives signals from both the bus stop transmitter 30 and the boarding entrance transmitter 32, it is determined that the bus 12 is stopped at a certain bus stop 14 and that the user is in the vicinity of the bus stop 14 and the bus 12.

In this embodiment, the user's position, the bus stop 14's position, and the bus 12's position are spatially or geometrically related to each other, since they share the same space or location at the same time (signal processing by the bus stop transmitter 30 and the bus transmitters 32 and 34 is performed almost simultaneously (e.g., typically within several tens of milliseconds, given the processing speed of the processor 130).

Alternatively, the present invention may be implemented in such a manner that the second reception range of the boarding gate transmitter 32 does not overlap with the first reception range of the bus stop transmitter 30, and based on this premise, when the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it effectively receives signals only from the bus stop transmitter 30 to a state in which it effectively receives signals only from the boarding gate transmitter 32 without any substantial time gap (for example, within 1 second or 0.5 seconds, given the walking speed of a human), it is determined that a bus 12 is stopped at a certain bus stop 14 and that a user is present in the vicinity of the bus stop 14 and the bus 12.

In this embodiment, the user's location, the location of the bus stop 14, and the location of the bus 12 are spatially or geometrically related to each other in terms of sharing the same time or instant of time.

In addition, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, when the bus 12 stops at the bus stop 14, the third reception range of the exit transmitter 34 partially overlaps with the first reception range of the bus stop transmitter 30. Based on this, when the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it receives signals from both the bus stop transmitter 30 and the exit transmitter 34 to a state in which it predominantly receives signals from the exit transmitter 34 (or a state in which it receives signals from the exit transmitter 34 with a higher strength than the bus stop transmitter 30), it is determined that the user has alighted from the bus 12.

Alternatively, the third reception range of the exit transmitter 34 does not overlap with the first reception range of the bus stop transmitter 30. Based on this premise, the present invention may be implemented in such a manner that when the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it effectively receives signals only from the exit transmitter 34 to a state in which it effectively receives signals only from the bus stop transmitter 30, it is determined that the user has alighted from the bus 12.

<How to pay for bus fares>

In this system 10, bus fares can be paid for either in advance or after the fact. In the case of prepayment, a flat rate system is used, whereas in the case of postpayment, a pay-per-use system (e.g., based on the distance of the route) is used.

In the case of prepayment, in this system 10, for example, when it is determined that boarding has been completed, or when the user touches or holds the mobile terminal 90 over the in-bus transmitter 32 or 34, the user logs in to a payment server (not shown) via the mobile terminal 90, and the required bus fare is paid electronically.

In contrast, in the case of deferred payment, in this system 10, for example, when it is determined that the passenger has disembarked, or when the user touches or holds the mobile terminal 90 over the in-bus transmitter 34, the user logs in to a payment server (not shown) via the mobile terminal 90, and the required bus fare is paid electronically.

<Multiple secondary functions of the system>

Figure 19 conceptually illustrates an example of multiple virtual buttons 300, 302, 304, and 306 displayed on the screen of a mobile terminal 90 in this system 10, which are selected and operated by a user to select and activate multiple secondary functions.

1. Bus operation status information service 300

According to this service, the operating status of the bus 12 that the user is paying attention to is provided to the user in real time via the mobile device 90. For example, when the user selects one of multiple buses 12 in operation on a map displayed on the screen of the mobile device 90, the operating status of the selected bus 12 (predicted arrival time at each bus stop 14, expected occupancy rate or number of passengers of that bus 14) is provided to the user.

2. Bus location tracking service 302

According to this service, the current location of a bus 12 in operation is displayed to the user in real time via the mobile device 90. For example, the current location of a bus 12 in operation that the user plans to board is displayed on the screen of the mobile device 90, and the estimated time of arrival at the bus stop 14 where the user is waiting is also displayed on the screen of the mobile device 90.

3. Bus occupancy rate fluctuation prediction service 304

To provide this service to users, the management server 50 calculates in real time for each bus 12 and for each bus stop 14, and discretely in time, the expected number of passengers on that bus 12 at the moment the bus 12 departs from each bus stop 14 by subtracting the total number of users requesting the same desired alighting bus stop (expected number of passengers alighting) Y from the number of passengers with reservations (expected number of passengers boarding) X.

Furthermore, when the management server 50 receives a bus occupancy rate fluctuation prediction request from the mobile terminal 90, it transmits to the mobile terminal 90 bus congestion data representing the predicted instantaneous number of passengers at each of the multiple bus stops 14 for the selected bus 12 or the predicted instantaneous occupancy rate obtained by dividing the predicted instantaneous number of passengers by the maximum number of bus passengers.

The mobile device 90 that receives the bus congestion data displays the bus congestion data on the screen, so that the user can know the congestion level of the bus 12 before selecting the bus 12, before selecting the desired bus stop for disembarking, or before selecting the route for the bus 12, and is assisted in selecting a bus 12 with a low level of congestion based on the information.

4. Optimal bus selection support service 306

With this service, the optimal bus route is automatically selected based on the user's requests. For example, when the user inputs their current location, desired arrival time, and final destination into the mobile device 90, the optimal bus route, the optimal bus 12, the optimal bus stop 14, the time required from the current location to the optimal bus stop 14, and the time required from the optimal bus stop 14 to the final destination are displayed via the mobile device 90. When the user clicks on the icon representing the optimal bus stop 14 on the screen of the mobile device 90, the operating status of the bus 12 scheduled to stop at the optimal bus stop 14 is displayed.

＜Backup function in case of transmitter failure＞

In this system 10, the backup function in case of a transmitter failure is realized by cooperation between the mobile terminal 90 and the management server 50. Specifically, the presence or absence of a failure in each transmitter 30, 32, 34 is diagnosed, and if a failure is diagnosed, the bus stop 14 where the user is located or the bus 12 on which the user is riding is identified using only the mobile terminal 90, without using the faulty transmitter 30, 32, 34.

More specifically, in this system 10, the mobile terminal 90 (a) has a positioning unit that measures its own current location as the user's current location. The positioning unit is, for example, a GPS positioning unit that uses a GPS receiver 152, or a positioning unit that uses position signals from multiple terrestrial base stations that the mobile terminal 90 uses as relay base stations.

The mobile terminal 90 further includes (b) a fault diagnosis unit that diagnoses whether or not there is a fault in each bus stop transmitter 30 and/or each bus transmitter 32, 34 and transmits the identification result to the management server 50.

In one example, the fault diagnosis unit is aware that one of the transmitters 30, 32, 34 is installed at the current position measured by the positioning unit, and a predetermined relationship between the spatial coordinate values representing the installation position of each transmitter 30, 32, 34 and the transmitter ID of each transmitter 30, 32, 34 is stored in the memory 162 of the management server 50 and/or the memory 132 of the mobile terminal 90. Based on the relationship, the fault diagnosis unit identifies which of the transmitters 30, 32, 34 should be installed at the measured current position, and if the mobile terminal 90 does not receive a signal from any of the transmitters 30, 32, 34, diagnoses that one of the transmitters 30, 32, 34 is malfunctioning (for example, the battery 106 is low, the transmitter 30, 32, 34 itself is malfunctioning, etc.), and transmits the diagnosis result to the management server 50.

In this example, the determination of which of the transmitters 30, 32, 34 the mobile terminal 90 receives a signal from may be made, for example, using the aforementioned maximum reception radius as the reference value in order to expand the area that can be diagnosed by the mobile terminal 90, or alternatively, using the aforementioned effective reception radius, which is shorter than the aforementioned maximum reception radius, as the reference value in order to reduce the possibility that the signal path between the mobile terminal 90 and the transmitters 30, 32, 34 to be diagnosed will be obstructed by other objects, thereby improving the accuracy of diagnosis by the mobile terminal 90.

The mobile terminal 90 further includes (c) a user behavior estimation unit that uses the user's current position measured by the positioning unit and/or the user's speed or acceleration acquired by the speed acquisition unit (e.g., a part that calculates the time derivative of the measured geographical position (spatial coordinate values x, y, z)) or acceleration acquisition unit (e.g., acceleration sensor 154) of the mobile terminal 90 to estimate the user's behavior as to whether the user is stationary or walking at any bus stop 14 (the speed measurement value is equal to or less than the speed reference value and/or the acceleration measurement value is equal to or greater than the acceleration reference value), or whether the user is aboard any moving bus 12 and traveling with the bus 12 (the speed measurement value is greater than the speed reference value and/or the acceleration measurement value is less than the acceleration reference value).

The mobile terminal 90 further includes (d) a bus stop identification unit in case of failure that, when it diagnoses that any of the bus stop transmitters 30 is malfunctioning, identifies the bus stop 14 where the user is located based on the measured current location of the user and the estimated user behavior, and transmits the identification result to the management server 50.

The mobile terminal 90 is further configured to include (e) a fault bus identification unit that, when it is diagnosed that one of the bus transmitters 32, 34 is faulty, identifies the bus 12 the user is riding on based on the measured current location of the user and the estimated user behavior, and transmits the identification result to the management server 50.

It should be noted that in this embodiment, each bus stop 14 is configured as a building fixedly installed at a specific position on the ground, and a bus stop transmitter 30 is attached to the building.

Alternatively, the present invention may be implemented in such a manner that each bus stop 14 is configured as a pole or stand fixedly installed at a specific position on the ground, and the bus stop transmitter 30 is mounted on the pole or stand.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a user is permitted to make a reservation and board the bus 12 on the condition that the user is located in the vicinity of a bus stop transmitter 30 at any bus stop 14, for example by touching the bus stop transmitter 30 with the mobile terminal 90 or by holding the mobile terminal 90 over the bus stop transmitter 30.

Alternatively, the present invention may be implemented in such a way that if a user arrives at any position within the aforementioned reception area of the bus stop transmitter 30 at any bus stop 14, the user is permitted to make a reservation and board the bus 12 without approaching the bus stop transmitter 30.

In this embodiment, the present invention may be implemented such that the bus 12 stops at a specified location close to the bus stop transmitter 30, or at a location where the current user is waiting.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, multiple bus stops 14 are arranged side by side along the road at regular intervals (e.g., intervals equal to the distance traveled by the bus 12 when traveling for approximately 10-20 minutes), and as a result, multiple bus stop transmitters 30 are arranged side by side along the road at regular intervals.

Alternatively, the present invention may be implemented in such a manner that multiple bus stops 14 are spaced apart at shorter than normal intervals, for example, at a distance equal to about 1-2 times the receivable radius of the bus stop transmitter 30, so that multiple bus stop transmitters 30 are spaced apart at a distance equal to about 1-2 times the receivable radius of the bus stop transmitter 30.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, each bus stop 14 is configured as a permanent stop (functioning as a stop at all times, where the bus 12 stops).

Alternatively, the present invention may be implemented in such a manner that each bus stop 14 is configured as a temporary stop (which functions as a stop at one time, but does not function as a stop at another time, at which time the bus 12 does not stop), and specifically, each bus stop 14 is located at a potential starting point or destination of any user (e.g., a residence such as a private home, an apartment building, or a collective housing complex, a hospital, a school, an airport, a public facility, a commercial facility, etc.).

In this embodiment, for example, if the user specifies his/her home as the departure point, the bus 12 will arrive at that location, and if the user specifies another person's home, a specific hospital, school, airport, public facility, commercial facility, etc. as the destination, the bus 12 will arrive at that location.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, each bus stop 14 is configured as a dedicated building.

Alternatively, the present invention may be implemented in such a manner that each bus stop 14 is configured as a location where multiple users can gather and wait in one place, such as a public or private parking lot, and also serves as a bus stop 14.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, each bus 12 is configured as an example of a manned vehicle operated by a driver.

Alternatively, the present invention may be implemented in such a manner that each bus 12 is configured as an example of an autonomously driven unmanned vehicle.

Furthermore, although the illustrated embodiment is an application of the present invention to the operation management of a bus 12, it is possible to apply the present invention to the operation management of other means of transportation or to the operation management of other vehicles.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, all or part of the processing that was executed on the mobile terminal 90 may be executed on the management server 50 instead, and conversely, all or part of the processing that was executed on the management server 50 may be executed on the mobile terminal 90 instead. This is because which device executes the processing to be executed is usually determined by the circumstances at the time, such as the amount and type of data being handled, the processing speed and storage capacity of each device, etc.

Although several exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, these are merely examples, and the present invention can be embodied in other forms that incorporate various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, including the forms described in the "Summary of the Invention" section above.

Claims (9)

A vehicle operation management system that manages the operation of a plurality of vehicles for transporting passengers by using passenger communication terminals capable of short-range wireless communication and long-range wireless communication,
a short-range wireless communication unit that is installed in a passenger compartment of each vehicle at a position where a passenger passes when getting on the vehicle, and that is capable of short-range wireless communication with a communication terminal of the passenger;
A management server capable of long-distance wireless communication with a communication terminal of a passenger;
The communication terminal and/or the management server
a vehicle information display unit that enables the communication terminal to display, when the communication terminal receives a signal capable of identifying one of the vehicles from the short-range wireless communication unit before the passenger touches or holds the communication terminal over the short-range wireless communication unit of one of the vehicles, information capable of identifying the one of the vehicles on a screen of the communication terminal based on the received signal;
and a boarding completion determination unit that enables the communication terminal to determine that the passenger has completed boarding into any one of the vehicles based on a signal received by the communication terminal from the short-range wireless communication unit when the passenger boards any one of the vehicles and touches or holds the communication terminal over the short-range wireless communication unit. the vehicle has a communication device capable of long-distance wireless communication with the management server,
The vehicle operation management system according to claim 1 , wherein the management server uses the communication device to manage the operation of the vehicle based on a determination result that the boarding has been completed , received from the communication terminal . The vehicle operation management system according to claim 1 , wherein the information includes a number, a name, or a symbol of any one of the vehicles . The communication terminal and/or the management server further
a desired vehicle specification unit that enables a user to specify any one of the vehicles as a desired vehicle in which the user should board;
a boarding promotion unit that enables the communication terminal to display, on the screen, a message for promoting the passenger to board any one of the vehicles when any one of the vehicles related to the display on the screen matches the specified desired vehicle ;
The vehicle operation management system according to claim 1 . The vehicle operation management system of claim 1, wherein the communication terminal and/or the management server further includes an electronic payment unit that enables electronic payment of the usage fee for any of the vehicles via the communication terminal when the passenger touches or holds the communication terminal over the short-range wireless communication unit or a different short-range wireless communication unit when getting on or off any of the vehicles. A program for causing a computer to function as a communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A program for causing a computer to function as a management server according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 6 is recorded so as to be readable by a computer. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 7 is recorded so as to be readable by a computer.

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