JPH022496A - Route guide system in moving body communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to arrive at a destination through an optimum route by allowing a mobile station to guide a route under the consideration of a traffic flow state. CONSTITUTION:When a mobile station mounted on a subscriber's vehicle 12 requests the transmission of route guide information, the request is informed to a road-vehicle system center 26 through a road-vehicle individual communication line network 22. At the time of receiving the information, the center 26 selects an optimum route to be traveled by the mobile station under the consideration of the traffic flow state and transmits the selected route to the mobile station generating a transmission request as optimum route information through the network 22. Receiving the optimum route information, the mobile station guides the route based on the received route information and base station information transmitted from a passing road station 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a mobile communication system, and more specifically, to a route guidance method in a mobile communication system that provides route guidance to a vehicle such as an automobile.

(Prior Art) An example of a route guidance system in a conventional mobile communication system to which the present invention is particularly related is an automobile navigation system. An automobile navigation system is equipped with map information recorded on an optical recording medium such as GO-ROM on the in-vehicle side and a CRT display for displaying the information, and displays the current driving position on the map displayed on the display. This is a system that displays In this navigation system, a transmitter for transmitting position difference information is installed on, for example, a road guide board, and a receiver for receiving this position information is installed on the vehicle side. Each time the vehicle receives position information from the transmitter, it corrects the vehicle position on the map displayed on the display, and until the next position information is received, the vehicle operates autonomously based on the vehicle's direction, speed, etc. Update the vehicle position automatically. The passenger recognizes the current position of the vehicle from the position of the vehicle on the map displayed on the display, and based on this, determines whether or not the vehicle is heading toward the destination.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In this way, in the prior art, the passenger has to select the course to the destination, and [[1] Check whether the vehicle is taking the wrong course with respect to the destination. I could only confirm it. In addition, in the conventional technology, the route to the destination is determined by the passenger, so it is not possible to select an appropriate route depending on the traffic situation.Furthermore, the conventional technology requires map information on the vehicle side. Due to limitations in the storage capacity of storage media, it is difficult to record all the detailed map information for each region. Therefore, depending on the destination, the passenger may not be able to accurately select a route. Also,
Map information is originally updated over time, and may also be changed temporarily depending on the situation.

Therefore, even if such fluid information is prepared in advance, it is difficult to quickly respond to changes or additions to its contents.

It is an object of the present invention to eliminate such drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a route guidance method in a mobile communication system that is capable of guiding an optimal route to a destination according to traffic conditions. .

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the problems described in E, the present invention has a plurality of base stations that wirelessly communicate with mobile stations, a plurality of base stations are accommodated, and a plurality of base stations The base station includes a communication line network for exchanging communications with the mobile station, and a center connected to the communication line network that selects an optimal route according to traffic flow conditions.The base station sends base station information of the base station to the mobile station, When a mobile station transmits a request to transmit route guidance information, one communication line network notifies the center of the transmission request, and upon receiving the transmission request, the center selects the optimal route according to the traffic flow situation and follows the optimal route. When the mobile station receives the optimal route information, the mobile station outputs the optimal route information together with the base station information.

(Function) According to the present invention, when a mobile station requests transmission of route guidance information, this request is notified to the center via a communication line or network. When the center receives this notification, the center selects the optimal route for the mobile station to travel in consideration of traffic flow conditions, and sends this as optimal route information to the mobile station that made the transmission request through the communication network. Upon receiving the optimal route information, the mobile station performs route guidance based on the received route information and base station information transmitted from the base station it passes.

(Example) Next, an example of a route guidance system in a mobile communication system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the mobile communication system according to the present invention is applied to land transportation, particularly road transportation for vehicles including automobiles, as a road-to-vehicle individual communication system. A plurality of roadside stations 10 are arranged along general roads and expressways at predetermined intervals, for example, at intervals of several hundred meters to several kilometers. This interval may be set to an appropriate value depending on, for example, the vehicle speed allowed on the road. The roadside station 10 is a ground station that functions as a base station that wirelessly communicates with participating vehicles 12 on the road.

Road-LL? The JIO has a transmitter/receiver 14, which transmits and receives radio waves 18 to and from a mobile station mounted on the PS of the participating vehicle 12, that is, an on-vehicle device 16 (FIG. 5), and transmits and receives radio waves 18 to and from the mobile station installed in the subscriber vehicle 12, that is, the on-vehicle device 16 (FIG. 5). communication with the vehicle 12. One of the characteristics of this embodiment is that the size of the zone 20 is much smaller than the interval at which the road stations 1O are arranged, and the road stations 1O are arranged intermittently.

Its diameter may be, for example, on the order of tens of meters to 100 meters. Two zones 2 that are close to each other
0, there is an area where the mobile station 16 does not substantially respond to the radio waves transmitted by the base station 10, that is, a "no radio wave area J", in which the vehicle 12 does not respond to the radio waves transmitted by the base station 10 only while it is included in the zone 20. You can communicate with.

As you will see, in this method, two adjacent on-road stations
The same frequency can be effectively used repeatedly for 0 as well. Therefore, basically, the road station 10 and the mobile station 16
It is sufficient to use the rB- frequency for the entire system for the radio link between. In the case of a system that enables full-duplex communication, a pair of different frequencies are used for upper and lower frequencies.

This eliminates the need for frequency zone switching as in conventional cellular systems. Because of these characteristics, this method is called an "intermittent minimum zone method", and the zone 20 is called a "minimum zone". Note that the wireless communication between the roadside station 10 and the mobile station 16 is not easily affected by fading effects due to extremely short-term radio wave propagation.
High-speed communication of about 5EIKbit/s - 1.5Mbit/s is possible. Particularly in this embodiment, considering cost minimum, it is desirable to set the speed to about 512 Kbit/s, for example.

The roadside station 10 constitutes a part of the road-to-vehicle individual communication network 22, and can access other communication equipment such as the road-to-vehicle system center 26 in this embodiment via the same line #122. In this embodiment, the road-to-vehicle individual communication line network 22 has a station hierarchy configuration as illustrated in FIG. be.

With such an intermittent minimum zone method, it is possible to increase the speed of communication between the mobile station 16 and the roadside station 10, and it is possible to provide a variety of route guidance services including high-speed data communication. In other words, as in this embodiment, there is a navigation system that guides participating vehicles 12 such as automobiles to appropriate routes depending on road congestion and weather conditions, and a navigation system that guides participating vehicles 12 such as cars to appropriate routes according to road congestion and weather conditions.
Data communication can be performed between the center 2B and the mobile station 16 via the road-to-vehicle individual communication network 22 for the purpose of efficiently managing the operation of the mobile station.

Referring to FIG. 2, the road-to-vehicle individual communication network 22 in this embodiment includes a district station 30 that accommodates a plurality of roadside station IOs located in a certain area, and a district station 30 that connects a plurality of district stations 30 over a certain area. These stations 30, including the on-road stations 10, have a hierarchical structure consisting of regional stations 32 that accommodate them, and general stations 34 that accommodate some of these regional stations 32.
．． 32.34 is called the ground station.

In this embodiment, the lines between the district stations 30, the regional pipes 32, and the central office 34 form a tree-like line network consisting of trunk lines and trunk lines 36 such as diagonal lines, and the lines between the central stations 34 are logically The present invention is not limited to this other form, and may be applied to, for example, a station hierarchy structure depending on the type of road such as a general road or an expressway, or a linear network, etc. It goes without saying that other embodiments may be used.

The road-to-vehicle system center 26 is, for example, an information processing system that processes navigation for the participating vehicle 12. That is, the system center 26 receives road information and traffic-related information from the communication line 22 and an external information center (not shown), and estimates and predicts traffic flow conditions based on this information. When receiving a request to send a route guidance code to a destination, it selects an optimal route based on the estimated traffic flow conditions, creates a route guidance code, and sends it to the mobile station 16. In this embodiment, the guidance code indicates the station code of the station 10 on the way to the destination, and is stored as a guidance list (FIG. 7) in the memory 212 (FIG. 5) of the mobile station 16, which will be described later. Ru. Road-to-vehicle system center 2
6 is accommodated in the general office 34 via a trunk line 40.

Of course, these may be connected to the regional pipe 32 or the district office 30.

The vehicle-specific code for identifying the mobile station 16 is composed of a static code 50 and a dynamic code 60 in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. In addition to functioning as an identification number for each mobile station 16 within this system, the static code 50 is closely related to the numbering system used when a call is received from the road-to-vehicle communication system center 28 to the mobile station 16. Static code 50 includes mobile station code 54 . It includes a registered ground station need 52 indicating a registered station, and a system code 56 for identifying this system.

The dynamic code 60 is a code corresponding to the movement state of the participating vehicle 12, and is effectively used to grasp the current situation of the participating vehicle 12 and navigate. Therefore, it is a vehicle-specific code related to the driving area and movement status of the subscriber vehicle 12, and is used to search for the vehicle position for individual communication from the system center 26, and to provide route guidance information to the travel destination of the subscriber vehicle 12. Therefore, in this embodiment, the present embodiment includes a destination code 62 indicating the operation destination of the participating vehicle 12 and a driving area code 64 indicating the current driving area. In the example, when a link number code of a travel destination is set in the destination code 62, this is sent to the road-to-vehicle system center 26 as a request to send a route guidance code.

As conceptually shown in FIG.
This includes a storage area where static information is stored, including the location and direction of the roadside station IO and roadside station information around the roadside station. The static information and the surrounding information of the road station are transmitted to 12. In this embodiment, the road-L station information is, for example, ``If you go straight, there is an OO intersection crossroads 300 meters ahead.

If you go straight through the 00 intersection, you will find road station X, if you turn left at the OO intersection, you will find road station y, and if you turn right at the OO intersection, you will find road station 2. ” The content is as follows.

In this embodiment, the mobile station 16 is a member vehicle 12 such as a car.
This is an in-vehicle device that transmits and receives data such as navigation information and entrainment management information, messages, and image signals to and from the roadside station 10, and displays these signals visually and/or audibly to passengers. FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the mobile station 16 in this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the mobile station 16 has a destination code 1"8, for example.
2, a key human input device 252 for inputting a request to send a route guidance code, etc., a video display 25B that interfaces passengers with images and sounds, a voice synthesizer 280, a voice recognition device 282, a facsimile transmitting/receiving device 254, etc. It is equipped with

Each component of the mobile station 16 is under overall control by a control circuit 210. That is, the control circuit 210 includes a transmitter 200 and a receiver 202 that transmit and receive radio waves 18 to and from the road station IO, a speech synthesizer 280, and a display 256.
Alternatively, a display control section 230 that controls the display of the facsimile device 254, a key manual device 252, a transmission buffer 220 that temporarily stores the contents output from the facsimile device 254 or the voice recognition device 252, etc. 6
Also. The control circuit 210 is connected to a memory 212 in which route guidance codes received from the road-vehicle system center 26 are stored as a route guidance list. The control circuit 210 of the mobile station 1B that has accumulated the guidance list confirms and selects the route from the static information received from the roadside station 10, and displays the display 256 and/or
The voice synthesizer 280 informs the passenger of the direction of travel. As a result, the passenger can know the route ahead of time, so there is no need to display a map showing the route on the display 256. Of course, if the passenger desires map information, the center 26 can provide the latest map information. You can also obtain map information. The received map information is displayed on the display 25B or output by the facsimile device 254.

Note that the mobile station 16 is equipped with a random number table function, and in response to polling from the road F station 10, the mobile station 16 selects an available free channel among the plurality of channels on the link 18 between the road station 10 and the road station 10. Selected by Then, depending on the selected channel, the mobile station 16 connects to the road station IO.
performs wireless communication with.

In this embodiment, communication between the mobile station 16 of the participating vehicle 12 and the base station IO is carried out by polling using a frame 100 having a format as illustrated in FIG. In this example, frame 100 has a period of 683 milliseconds (IIS)
A plurality of channels are multiplexed into a large number of time slots included in this. In principle, the required bidirectional communication is completed within this 1 frame period. A single frequency is used for wireless link 18. In the case of full-duplex communication, a pair of frequencies that are different from each other are used. However, those 1.1 wave numbers may be fixed, and the same frequency is used no matter which on-road station 10's tlj and tlj 12 that join the horn 20 move. In principle, communication is completed within a period of one frame, but if the amount of information is particularly large, such as image information, or if wireless communication conditions are poor,
Communication using multiple frames is also possible.

An introduction section 102 is located at the beginning of the frame 100, and includes a preamble, a synchronization signal, a polling identification signal, a code for static information of the road station 10, and the like. Using this, the roadside station 10 polls the mobile station 16 within the zone 20 at a predetermined period. The mobile station 16 is in the receiving mode on the idle island Y, and becomes the transmitting mode after receiving the introduction part +02.

The introduction section 102 is followed by a vehicle recognition section 104, which includes:
Mobile station 16 responds to polling with vehicle specific code 50.
This is the period during which the road station IO recognizes this. Advantageously, by performing two-block repeated transmissions, the recognition rate of the additions 1j and 12 is significantly improved. The mobile station 1B selects a channel using a random number table, and uses this channel to transmit the static vehicle-specific code 50 and the dynamic vehicle-specific code 60 to the roadside station 10. The road station 10 registers the mobile station 16 if the channel selected by the mobile station 16 can be correctly received without conflicting with other channels.

In this embodiment, the vehicle recognition unit 104 is followed by the vehicle recognition unit 104.
0B is placed and use it to broadcast on the road! Beacon-type dynamic navigation information such as traffic information and a registration response signal (ACK or NACK) are transmitted from mobile station 0 to mobile station 16 . The roadside station IO sends an ACK to the mobile station 1B registered by the vehicle recognition unit 104, adding channel information to be used by the vehicle communication unit 10B, which will be described later, if necessary.
Send a signal.

This is followed by the vehicle communication section 108, which performs full-duplex communication between the roadside station IO and the mobile station 16 in this embodiment. The frequencies are different for the upper and lower channels, and the channel selected by the road station 10 is used. However, the same frequency is used even if the subscribing vehicle 12 moves to the zone 20 of the adjacent roadside station IO. Of course, half-duplex or unidirectional communication may be used. In the vehicle communication unit 108, data such as guidance codes indicating navigation information and operation management information, message messages, and image signals are transmitted and received between the mobile station 16 and the system center 26, and the information is transmitted to the passengers of the subscriber vehicle 12. Displayed as images and sounds.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the traveling route of the joining vehicle 12 that has requested the road-to-vehicle system center 26 to send a route guidance code. When a route guidance transmission request is made from the mobile station M03 of the vehicle 12 whose mobile station code is MO3 shown in FIG.
2, input the link number code, which is the number of the road station 10 of the travel destination, for example. For example, when the link number code of roadside station E is input as the destination, this code is stored in the transmission buffer 220 as the destination code 62 of the dynamic code 60.

When the destination code 62 is input, the control circuit 2!0
This code 62 is transmitted to the first roadside station 1O that the code 62 passes through after inputting it. For example, when the mobile station MO3 first passes through the transmission area 20 of the roadside station A, the control circuit 210 transmits the dynamic code 60 including the destination code 62 to the roadside station A using the vehicle recognition unit 104. After storing the dynamic code BO received from the mobile station MO3 in the -H memory 42, the road station A transmits it to the communication line #12 along with other codes of the mobile station M03.
Send to 2. These codes are the communication line i! 122, and a code indicating a request to transmit route guidance is transmitted to the road-to-vehicle system center 26.

When the destination of the mobile station M03 is input, the road-to-vehicle system center 28 selects the optimal route to the road-to-road station E, taking into consideration the traffic flow situation. The center 26 also predicts the movement of the mobile station MO3 and determines the path-L station B that can transmit the guidance code. Then, the guidance code from the roadside station C to the roadside station E, which is next to the ground station B which can transmit the guidance code, is sent to the communication line network 22.

When roadside station B receives the guidance code addressed to mobile station MU,
This is stored in the memory 42 and the mobile station M03 moves to zone 20.
Watch for entry.

When road station B detects mobile station M03, vehicle communication unit 10
8, the guidance code addressed to the mobile station MOa is transmitted. When the mobile station Mol receives the guidance code a, the control circuit 210
stores this code in memory 212 as a guide list as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the mobile station M03 is the road station B
For example, ``If you go straight, there will be an O○ intersection crossroads 300 meters ahead.If you go straight at the OO intersection, there will be a road-F station Q.
If you turn left at the oO intersection, you will find street station C, and if you turn right at the Oo intersection, you will find street station R. '', which indicates the surrounding environment of road F station B.

The control circuit 210 compares the guidance list with roadside station information and instructs the passenger about the direction of travel. In this case, since the roadside station C is recorded in the guidance list, the mobile station MO3 instructs the passenger to turn left at the Oo intersection 300ffl ahead. For example, this instruction may be given by the speech synthesizer 280. There is an OO intersection 300 meters ahead, so please turn left there. '' may be voiced to the passenger, or a simple direction of travel instruction may be displayed on the display 256.

When the mobile station MO3 turns left at the QO intersection and enters the zone 20 of the roadside station C, the roadside station C sends static information including its position information and roadside station information to the mobile station MO3 through the introduction unit 102. The control circuit 210 verifies that the traveling route is correct by comparing the location information of the roadside station C with the guidance list. Furthermore, the mobile station M03 instructs the passenger about the next route to take based on the on-road station information in the same manner as described above. In this way, the mobile station MO3 can pass through the roadside stations and reach the roadside station E, which is the destination.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the participating vehicle 12 can reach the destination using the optimal route depending on the traffic flow situation. In addition, since the mobile station 16 gives instructions on the direction of travel,
Passengers do not have to choose a route based on their location on a map;
All that is required is to operate the handle according to instructions from the mobile station 16. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the traffic flow situation can be comprehensively grasped and controlled, so that the traffic flow can be dispersed. In this embodiment, the destination entered in the destination code 62 is the roadside station 10, but it may also be another target, such as the prefectural capital or a specific place name. Although the passenger intends to do this, it is also possible to provide the joining vehicle 12 with an autopilot function and automatically steer the vehicle in accordance with the direction instruction output from the mobile station 16.

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a road-to-vehicle individual communication system has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and can be effectively applied to individual communications with people other than vehicles, such as individuals, that is, pedestrians in a broad sense.

Note that the embodiments described here are for explaining the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto, and modifications and variations that can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Modifications are within the scope of this invention.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, since the mobile station provides route guidance, the user can reach the destination even without map information by driving according to the instructions from the mobile station. Furthermore, since the travel route instructed by the mobile station is created at the center according to traffic flow conditions, traffic flow can be dispersed and the mobile station can reach its destination on the optimal route.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a conceptual block diagram showing an embodiment in which the mobile communication system according to the present invention is applied to road traffic of vehicles as a road-to-vehicle individual communication system, and Fig. fJS2 is a road-to-vehicle individual communication system in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the format of the vehicle-specific code in the same embodiment; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the frame format in the same embodiment; FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a mobile station in the same embodiment, FIG. 6 is a traveling route diagram showing an example of the traveling route of a joining vehicle in the same embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a list configuration diagram that is an example of a guidance list for the route shown in FIG. Explanation of symbols of main parts 10°12°14°20°22°26. 42゜80゜82゜Roadside station join 41i Both transceivers Minimum zone Road-vehicle individual communication network Road-vehicle system Center memory Traveling vehicle table passage jljl Thousand cars Bull control circuit Memory key Human power device CRT display Voice synthesis device

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A plurality of base stations that wirelessly communicate with mobile stations; a communication line network that accommodates the plurality of base stations and exchanges communications for the plurality of base stations; and the communication line network. and a center connected to a center that selects an optimal route according to traffic flow conditions, the base station transmits base station information identifying the base station to the mobile station, and the mobile station transmits route guidance information. When the request is transmitted, the communication line network notifies the center of the transmission request, and upon receiving the transmission request, the center selects an optimal route according to the traffic flow situation and creates an optimal route indicating the optimal route. A mobile object that transmits information to the mobile station via the communication line network, and when the mobile station receives the optimal route information, outputs the optimal route information together with the base station information. Route guidance method in communication system.