JPH10241094A - Communication system between road and vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely transmit only information required for a vehicle (a user) from a roadside beacon. SOLUTION: Before the vehicle 14 passes the roadside beacon, the roadside beacon from which reception of the information is desired by the vehicle, desired receiving time, the information desired to be received are preliminarily registered and stored as a user table in a storage device 10b of an information center 10. The information is preliminarily distributed to each roadside beacon 12 based on the user table and stored in the storage device of the roadside beacon by the information center 10. When an ID is received from the vehicle when the vehicle actually passes the roadside beacon 12, the information corresponding to the ID is read from the storage device and transmitted to the vehicle 14 without making access to the information center 10 by the roadside beacon 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a road-to-vehicle communication system, and more particularly to a system for individually supplying information required for vehicles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system for transmitting and receiving information between a vehicle and an information center via a roadside beacon has been developed. FIG. 23 shows a conceptual configuration of such a system. The information center 10 is provided with a center computer and an external storage device, and various information (traffic information and the like) is stored in the external storage device. A plurality of roadside beacons 12 (beacon 1, beacon 2,
Only the beacon 3 is provided), and when the vehicle 14 passes through any of the beacons, the information center 10 transmits information to the beacon. The roadside beacon 12 having received the information from the information center 10 further transmits the information to the vehicle 14.

[0003] In such a road-to-vehicle system, how to efficiently transmit information to a vehicle (a user who needs information) is an important issue. For example, JP-A-6-2139
No. 88 discloses a device that receives traffic information transmitted from an information center via a roadside beacon and displays it to a driver, counts the number of times the vehicle has passed a beacon, and only displays traffic information that the driver considers necessary. Is disclosed.

[0004]

According to this technique, only traffic information considered necessary for the vehicle is displayed. However, only traffic information of the route is required unless the vehicle travels repeatedly on the same route. There is a problem that cannot be obtained. Further, not only traffic information but also various kinds of needs (information type, information acquisition time, etc.) may be present in each vehicle. In the related art, traffic information common to each vehicle is transmitted from a roadside beacon. Therefore, there is a problem that different needs cannot be met for each vehicle (that is, each user). Furthermore, especially when the vehicle is traveling at high speeds,
In some cases, not all information can be received from the roadside beacon.

FIG. 24 shows a vehicle 14, a roadside beacon 1
2. A sequence flowchart showing a general data flow between the information centers 10 is shown. An ID request signal is always transmitted from the roadside beacon 12 and the vehicle 1
4 enters the communicable area of the roadside beacon 12,
This ID request signal is received, and the ID data of the own vehicle is transmitted to the roadside beacon 12. The roadside beacon 12 receiving the ID data from the vehicle 14 requests the information center 10 to transmit information, and the information center 10 searches for the information and returns it to the roadside beacon 12. And the roadside beacon 12
Transmits the received information to the vehicle 14. Therefore,
It takes a certain amount of time from when the vehicle transmits the ID data to the roadside beacon 12 to when it receives the information. If the vehicle leaves the communicable area during this time, the necessary information cannot be obtained. become.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object the purpose of each vehicle (user).
It is an object of the present invention to provide a road-vehicle communication system capable of transmitting only necessary information to a vehicle in response to a variety of different needs, and transmitting information reliably regardless of the running state of the vehicle.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a road-to-vehicle communication system for transmitting and receiving information between an information center and a vehicle via a roadside beacon. The information center has first storage means for storing an information need table for each vehicle including a desired roadside beacon, and distribution means for distributing necessary information in advance to the desired roadside beacon based on the information need table. The roadside beacon is configured to store information supplied from the information center, and read and supply information required by the vehicle from the second storage unit when communicating with the vehicle. Means.

In a second aspect based on the first aspect, the distribution means of the information center further distributes the information need table for each vehicle to the roadside beacon,
The second storage means of the roadside beacon stores an information need table supplied from the information center, and the transmission means of the roadside beacon transmits information required by the vehicle based on the information need table. It is characterized by.

In a third aspect based on the first and second aspects, the roadside beacon further comprises an erasure for erasing information determined to be unnecessary among the information stored in the second storage means. It is characterized by having means.

A fourth invention is a road-vehicle communication system for transmitting and receiving information between an information center and a vehicle via a roadside beacon, wherein the information center stores an information need table for each vehicle. A first storage unit for extracting a roadside beacon scheduled to pass by a vehicle, and a distribution unit for distributing necessary information in advance to the roadside beacon extracted by the extraction unit based on the information needs table. The roadside beacon is configured to store information supplied from the information center, and read and supply information required by the vehicle from the second storage unit when communicating with the vehicle. Means.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment> The overall configuration of the system of this embodiment is the same as the conventional one shown in FIG. 23. A plurality of roadside beacons 12 connected to an information center 10 are provided at predetermined positions on the roadside. The configuration is such that communication with the roadside beacon 12 is performed when the vehicle 14 passes.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle according to this embodiment. The in-vehicle device is the in-vehicle antenna 14
a, a transceiver 14b, a CPU 14c, a storage device 14d, and an output device 14e. In-vehicle antenna 1
4a is necessary when transmitting and receiving with the roadside beacon 12 by radio waves, and when transmitting and receiving by infrared rays or the like, a light emitting and receiving device may be used. The transceiver 14b demodulates data received from the roadside beacon or modulates data transmitted from the CPU 14c. The CPU 14c sets the roadside beacon 1
2 to the storage device 14d, and transmits the ID and the like of the own vehicle to the roadside beacon. The output device 14e includes a display and a speaker, and notifies the data transmitted from the roadside beacon 12 to the occupant of the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the roadside beacon 12. The roadside beacon 12 includes an antenna 12a, a transceiver 12b, a CPU 12c, a storage device 1
2d and a communication interface 12e. The antenna 12a is necessary when communicating with the vehicle by radio waves, and when communicating with light such as infrared light, a light emitting and receiving device may be used. The transceiver 12b is used for data modulation and demodulation, and the CPU 12c controls data transmission and reception. Various data transmitted in advance from the information center 10 before actually communicating with the vehicle 14 is stored in the storage device 12d,
This data will be described later. The communication interface 12e is an interface for transmitting and receiving information between the information center 10 and a dedicated line on the ground.

Further, the configuration of the information center 10 includes a center computer 10a and an external storage device 10b as in the prior art, and traffic information and the like are accumulated in the external storage device 10b every moment. Center computer 10
a provides the traffic information and the like to the vehicle 14 via the roadside beacon 12. In the present embodiment, the vehicle 14 passing through the roadside beacon 12 distributes necessary information to the roadside beacon 12 in advance. This is different from the conventional one.

FIG. 3 shows a processing flowchart of the information center 10. First, the center computer 10
“a” creates a user file for each roadside beacon from a user file created in advance and stored in the external storage device 10b (S101). The user file registers in advance the information required for each vehicle, the required time, and the roadside beacon for which information is desired to be received in the information center 10, and an example is shown in FIG. 8. . In FIG. 8, "ID" is an identification number of a vehicle (user),
For each D, the number of the roadside beacon whose information is desired to be received, the time at which the information is desired to be received, and the required information are represented in a table format. The information is stored in the form of a file in the external storage device 10b separately from the user table as shown in FIG. With reference to such a user table, the center computer 10a creates a user table for each beacon, an example of which is shown in FIG. In the figure, a user table of a certain roadside beacon is shown, and the vehicle (user) with ID (4) needs information (1), (2), and (3) at time (4). . FIG. 10 shows a user table of one roadside beacon as described above, and such tables are created for the number of roadside beacons.

Returning to FIG. 3, when the creation of the user file for each roadside beacon is completed in S101, a user file for each information is created from the created user table for each roadside beacon (S102). FIG. 11 shows an example of a user file for each piece of information created based on the user table of a certain roadside beacon. The file of information (1) is used for the vehicles of ID (6), ID (9), and ID (11), and the information M is ID (4), ID (10), and ID (N).
Used for vehicles. When such a user file for each information is created, the center computer 10a creates an information file for each roadside beacon based on the user file for each beacon (see FIG. 10) (S103). FIG. 12 shows an example of an information file for each roadside beacon. For example, the roadside beacon (1) includes information (4),
The roadside beacon (L) consists of files of information (2), (3), (M), and so on. As described above, in the information center 10, based on the user table prepared based on the registration from the user in advance, (A) the user file for each roadside beacon, (B) the user file for each information, and (C) the roadside Create an information file for each beacon. The created files are stored in the storage device 1 once.
0b.

FIG. 4 shows a processing flowchart when the information center 10 distributes information to each of a plurality of roadside beacons based on the created various files. It should be noted that this distribution process is executed before the vehicle 14 and the roadside beacon actually communicate. First, the center computer 10a distributes the created user file for each roadside beacon to the corresponding roadside beacon (S201). That is, only the user file of the roadside beacon K is transmitted to the roadside beacon K. Next, the center computer 10a reads the information file for each roadside beacon created and stored in the storage device 10b (S202). Then, first, it is determined whether or not all the information files have been transmitted to the roadside beacon (it is naturally NO at first), and if not, the information files are sequentially distributed to the corresponding roadside beacons ( S204). In addition, the user file corresponding to the information is distributed together with the information file (S205). Therefore, for example, for the roadside beacon K, the user file of the roadside beacon K, the information file of the roadside beacon K, and the user files of the respective information files are distributed. The above processing is
Executed for all roadside beacons.

FIG. 5 shows a processing flowchart of the roadside beacon (K) which receives data distributed from the information center 10. First, the roadside beacon (K)
CPU 12c receives the user file transmitted from the information center 10, and newly stores the second
A CK column is provided and written to the storage device 12d (S30
1). FIG. 13 shows an example of a user file provided with the second CK column. In the figure, the rightmost column is the second
This is the CK column 100. Next, the CPU 12c receives the information file transmitted from the information center 10 (S3
02). That is, first, it is determined whether or not all information has been received (S303). If not, all information files are sequentially written to the storage device 12d (S304). Information center 1 along with the information file
Since the user file for each information is transmitted from 0, the user file of the information is also received (S30).
5). Then, the user file is written in the storage device 12d, and at this time, a first CK column is provided and written (S
306). FIG. 14 shows an example of a user file for each piece of information provided with a first CK column.
The column 102 is created so that it can be checked for each user. As described above, the user file and the information file to which the second CK column is added, and the user file for each information to which the first CK column is added are stored in each roadside beacon.

FIG. 6 shows a processing flowchart on the roadside beacon side when the vehicle communicates with the roadside beacon after the above-described distribution processing is completed. Roadside beacon 12
Transmits a transmission request signal to the communicable area (S401). When the vehicle enters the communicable area, the CPU 14c of the vehicle 14
To the roadside beacon. When receiving the ID (S402), the roadside beacon 12 reads the record of the user file corresponding to the received ID from the storage device 12d (S403). Here, the "record" refers to a component (reception desired time and reception desired information) corresponding to the ID in the user file. If the corresponding ID does not exist in the user file (S404), S401
Return to the processing of. If there is a corresponding ID here (S
404), it is determined whether or not transmission of all information has been completed (S405). If transmission of all information has not been completed, the information files in the record are sequentially transmitted to the vehicle 14. (S406). A check mark indicating the end of transmission is attached to the first CK column 102 of the information file whose transmission has been completed (S407). And that I
When the transmission of all information in the record corresponding to D is completed, a check mark indicating the end of transmission is added to the second CK column 100 of the user file (S408). Therefore,
For example, if the record with ID = 1 is information (1) and (2), and all information (1) and (2) are transmitted, a check mark is added to the first CK column 100 of user file ID = 1. And information (1) file ID = 1
Of the second CK column 102 and the ID of the information (2) = 1
A check mark is also added to the K column 102.

On the other hand, from the viewpoint of the vehicle 14, when the vehicle passes the roadside beacon 12, only the information necessary for the vehicle is immediately transmitted from the roadside beacon by transmitting only the ID of the vehicle. Even when traveling at high speed, only the necessary information is reliably received within the communicable area and the storage device 14
d, or can be displayed on the display device 14e.

FIG. 7 shows a routine processing flowchart of the roadside beacon 12. This processing is performed by the vehicle 14
It is always executed at fixed time intervals regardless of whether or not communication is performed. First, the CPU 12c operates the storage device 1
The record of the user file is read from 2d (S50)
1). Then, first, it is determined whether or not the processing of the file (that is, all records) has been completed (S502).
If the file processing has not been completed (of course, the first is NO), it is determined whether a check mark is added to the second CK column 100 of the record in the file (S503). The second CK column 100 is added when the transmission is completed as described above, and the fact that the check mark is not added to the second CK column means that the vehicle having the ID has not yet been checked. Indicates that no information has been sent. Therefore, the time of the record, that is, the reception time desired by the vehicle having the ID is checked, and it is determined whether or not the current time has reached the desired reception time (S504). If the desired reception time has not yet been reached, no processing is performed because there is a possibility that transmission has not been performed because the vehicle with that ID has not yet reached the position of the roadside beacon. On the other hand, if the current time has already reached the desired reception time, it means that the vehicle did not pass the roadside beacon for any reason (it did not communicate with the roadside beacon), and the information has been transmitted. The information is meaningless even if held by the roadside beacon 12 as in the case of. Therefore, first, it is determined whether or not the processing has been completed for all information (S50).
5) A check mark is forcibly attached to the first CK column 100 of the user file for each information (S506). Then, it is determined whether or not all the first CK columns 102 of the information file are checked (S507). When all the first CK columns 102 are checked, that is, when transmission is actually completed to all users of a certain information file, or when transmission is desired even when a desired reception time has arrived. Since the information file is no longer needed, it is deleted from the storage device 12d (S508). on the other hand,
An information file for which all of the first CK columns 102 are not checked may still be transmitted to the vehicle.
It is stored in the storage device 12d. By executing such a periodic process, only the truly necessary information file is stored in the storage device 12d of the roadside beacon 12, and the memory can be used efficiently.

FIGS. 15 and 16 show the data flow of this embodiment and the prior art. (A) is a data flow of the present embodiment, in which information is transmitted in advance from the information center 10 to the roadside beacon 12 before communication between the vehicle and the roadside beacon 12 (in the figure, Information (1) and information (2) are shown as information desired by a plurality of vehicles.) Then, when the vehicle (1) transmits ID1 in response to the transmission request of the roadside beacon 12, the roadside beacon 12 reads out the information (1) corresponding to the ID1 from the storage device 12d and immediately transmits the information (1) to the vehicle (1). Send. When the vehicle (2) transmits ID2 in response to the transmission request, the roadside beacon 12 transmits the ID2.
Is read from the storage device 12d and transmitted. Further, the vehicle (3) receives the ID in response to the transmission request.
When transmitting (3), the roadside beacon 12 reads out information (1) corresponding to the ID from the storage device 12d and transmits it. That is, even if the ID is transmitted from the vehicle, the roadside beacon 12 can provide only the information required by the vehicle without accessing the information center 10.

On the other hand, FIG. 2B shows the data flow of the prior art, and when the ID is transmitted from the vehicle, the roadside beacon 12
Will transmit the ID to the information center 10 each time to receive the information and provide the information received from the information center 10 to the vehicle. It will be appreciated that it takes time.

As is apparent from FIG. 15, in the present embodiment, only information that meets the needs of each vehicle can be received from the roadside beacon, and can be received very quickly.

<Second Embodiment> In the above-described first embodiment, the user has previously registered a roadside beacon whose information is desired to be received. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which a roadside beacon is not registered in advance. . Note that the basic configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 shows a departure point, a destination, and a plurality of roadside beacons (1), (2), and (3) on the route in this embodiment. When the vehicle passes the roadside beacon (1) and transmits the destination information to the roadside beacon, the destination data is transmitted to the information center. The information center not only transmits information to the roadside beacon (1) through which the vehicle is currently passing, but also, among a plurality of roadside beacons, the roadside beacon (2) existing on the route from the current position of the vehicle to the destination. , (3),
Information required by the vehicle is distributed to these roadside beacons in advance. Thus, even if the user does not previously register a roadside beacon for which information is desired to be received, it is possible to reliably obtain information on any route on the route to the destination.

FIGS. 17 to 22 show processing flowcharts of the roadside beacon and the information center in this embodiment. Note that, in these drawings, a case where the vehicle passes through the roadside beacon (2) in FIG. 16 is illustrated for convenience of explanation.

First, FIG. 17 is a processing flowchart of the roadside beacon (2). The roadside beacon (2) always sends a transmission request signal toward the communicable area (S601). When the vehicle 14 enters the communicable area and receives this signal, the ID of the own vehicle is changed to the roadside beacon. Send to (2). When receiving the ID (S602), the roadside beacon (2) transmits the received ID to the information center 10 (S603). Since the information file corresponding to the ID is transmitted from the information center 10, the information is received (S604, S605), and the received information is transmitted to the vehicle 14 (S606). The above processing is exactly the same as the processing of the related art. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether the process has been completed normally next, that is, whether all the information received from the information center 10 has been transmitted to the vehicle 14 (S607). Sends an information deletion request to the center 10 (S
608). This process is unique to the present embodiment, and the information received by the roadside beacon (2) from the information center 10 is also distributed to the roadside beacon (3) located closer to the destination than the roadside beacon (2). Therefore, when the information can be normally transmitted to the vehicle 14, the roadside beacon (3)
Is unnecessary in view of the fact that the information held by the user becomes unnecessary.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show the processing of the information center 10. FIG. FIG. 18 shows the process of distributing the information file. When the vehicle ID is received from the roadside beacon (2) (S70)
1), a record corresponding to the ID is read from a user file stored in advance in the storage device 10b (S7).
02). Then, it is determined whether or not all the information in the record has been transmitted (S703).
These information files are sequentially transmitted to the roadside beacons (2) and (3) (S704, S705). In the extraction of the roadside beacon (3), the center computer 10a checks the destination information transmitted from the vehicle 14 together with the ID and the map data, and finds the route between the roadside beacon (2) and the destination. Any roadside beacon may be selected, and a roadside beacon adjacent to the roadside beacon (2) may be extracted. Of course, the destination information of the vehicle 14 may be acquired from the roadside beacon passed before the roadside beacon (2), and if it can be known in advance by any method, the information may be used. After all the same information has been distributed to the roadside beacons (2) and (3), a file end signal is transmitted to the roadside beacons (2) and (3), and the distribution process ends (S706).

FIG. 19 shows processing when a request to delete an information file is received from the roadside beacon (2), that is, when all information can be transmitted to the vehicle 14 by the roadside beacon (2). When a deletion request is received from the roadside beacon (2) (S801), a deletion request signal is transmitted to the roadside beacon (3) (S802). This process is a process located after the process of FIG.

FIGS. 20 to 22 show the processing of the roadside beacon (3). FIG. 20 shows processing when the vehicle 14 has passed. A transmission request is sent to the communicable area (S90).
1) When the vehicle 14 transmits its own ID in response to the transmission request, the roadside beacon (3) receives this ID (S902) and determines whether there is distribution information from the information center 10. (S903). If there is distribution information, it is transmitted to the vehicle 14 (S904). If the information has not been distributed from the information center 10 or has been distributed once, but a deletion request is received from the information center 10 as described later. When the information file is deleted, the information is not transmitted to the vehicle 14.

FIG. 21 shows a process of receiving information distributed from the information center 10. When information is transmitted from the information center 10 (S1001), the information is sequentially stored in the storage device 12d (S1002).

FIG. 22 shows an information file deletion process. When a deletion request is received from the information center 10 (S1101), the corresponding file stored in the storage device 12d, that is, the roadside beacon (2) is used. Vehicle 14 already
The information file whose transmission has been completed is deleted (S1).
102). As a result, the unnecessary information file is not stored in the storage device 12d, and the memory can be used efficiently.

As described above, in the present embodiment, even if the vehicle has not registered in advance the roadside beacon for which information is desired to be received, the necessary information is distributed to the roadside beacon on the route to the destination. Therefore, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to reliably receive only necessary information regardless of the running state of the vehicle.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Only necessary information can be transmitted to the vehicle in response to various different needs for each vehicle (user), and information can be reliably transmitted regardless of the running state of the vehicle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a vehicle side.

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of a roadside beacon.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a file creation process of an information center.

FIG. 4 is a distribution processing flowchart of an information center.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a roadside beacon reception process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a communication process between a roadside beacon and a vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a routine processing flowchart of a roadside beacon.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a user table.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an information file.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a user file for each roadside beacon.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a user file for each information.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a beacon information file.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a user file provided with a second CK column.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a user file for each information provided with a first CK column.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a data flow of the embodiment system and the conventional system.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a departure place, a destination, and a roadside beacon.

FIG. 17 is a processing flowchart of a roadside beacon (2).

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a distribution process of the information center.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of an information center deletion process.

FIG. 20 is a communication processing flowchart of a roadside beacon (3) with a vehicle.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of receiving information of a roadside beacon (3).

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a roadside beacon (3) information file deletion process.

FIG. 23 is a system configuration diagram.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing a data flow of a conventional system.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 information centers, 12 roadside beacons, 14 vehicles,
100 second CK column, 102 first CK column.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A road-vehicle communication system for transmitting and receiving information between an information center and a vehicle via a roadside beacon, wherein the information center stores an information need table for each vehicle including a roadside beacon desired to be received. A first storage unit, and a distribution unit that distributes necessary information to the desired roadside beacon in advance based on the information needs table, wherein the roadside beacon stores information supplied from the information center. A road-to-vehicle communication system, comprising: a second storage unit that performs communication with the vehicle; and a transmission unit that reads and supplies information required by the vehicle from the second storage unit when the vehicle communicates with the vehicle. 2. The distribution center of the information center further distributes the information need table for each vehicle to the roadside beacon, and the second storage unit of the roadside beacon includes an information need table supplied from the information center. The road-to-vehicle communication system according to claim 1, wherein the road-side beacon transmitting unit transmits information required by the vehicle based on the information need table. 3. The roadside beacon further comprising an erasing unit for erasing information determined to be unnecessary among the information stored in the second storage unit. A road-to-vehicle communication system according to any one of the above. 4. A road-to-vehicle communication system for transmitting and receiving information between an information center and a vehicle via a roadside beacon, wherein the information center comprises: a first storage means for storing an information needs table for each vehicle; An extraction unit for extracting a roadside beacon that a vehicle is to pass through; and a distribution unit for distributing necessary information in advance to the roadside beacon extracted by the extraction unit based on the information needs table. Has a second storage unit for storing information supplied from the information center, and a transmission unit for reading and supplying information required by the vehicle from the second storage unit when communicating with the vehicle. A road-to-vehicle communication system, characterized in that: