JPH11284566A - Vehicle running management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the probability that data communication is satisfactorily performed, to reduce the frequency of the case that communication is redone two or three times, to eliminate the labor of communication, and to reduce communication cost. SOLUTION: Data area data 20 which communication can be carried out showing an area where data communication is satisfactorily performed between a vehicle and a base station is stored in a running management database 18 of the base station 5, and the vehicle inquires the base station to check if a data communicable area exists within a prescribed distance in a traveling direction. Then, if there is one, transmission is started when the vehicle reaches the area, and if it there is none, transmission is performed at a time assigned separately. The probability that data communication is satisfactorily performed becomes higher, the trouble taken for communication is eliminated and communication cost is also reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention connects a base station to many vehicles by communication, monitors data transmitted from each vehicle, and issues an instruction as necessary to appropriately operate the vehicle. The present invention relates to a vehicle operation management system for managing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a large number of vehicles such as trucks are owned and operated, it is required to manage them so that they can be operated safely and accurately. Previously, it was managed using a tachograph that records the speed of the vehicle, etc.
At the end of the trip, it was useful to analyze whether the trip was appropriate, but it was completely useless to check the trips of currently running vehicles.

[0003] In recent years, a vehicle operation system has been established in which each vehicle in operation and the operation management center are connected by communication, and data on the vehicle and the driver are transmitted from the vehicle in operation and the operation is managed based on the data. Management systems are being proposed.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of such a vehicle operation management system. In FIG. 3, 1-4 are operating vehicles, 5 is a base station, 6
Is an unsuitable area for data communication. Between the operating vehicles 1 to 4 running in various places and the base station 5, data (= vehicle data) relating to the vehicle state, the running state, and the like are transmitted from the operating vehicles 1 to 4 using a wireless device or a mobile phone. For example, it transmits geographical position data of running, vehicle speed, engine speed, etc., and transmits necessary instructions (eg, do not speed up, stop and check, etc.) from the base station 5. I have.

[0004] If the base station 5 and the operating vehicles 1 to 4 are always connected by a communication line to perform communication, the communication cost increases,
For the reason that there is no need to do so, each operating vehicle samples its own vehicle data and detects it, and when it is assigned to itself (for example, every fixed time or every certain traveling distance), the base station 5 Is generally used.

Next, a description will be given of a main part of the configuration of the vehicle and the base station which constitute the vehicle operation management system. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a vehicle and a base station in the conventional vehicle operation management system. Reference numerals correspond to those in FIG. 3, 10 to 12 are vehicle information detecting means, 13 is a vehicle side computer, 14 is a transmission memory, 15 and 16 are transmission / reception units, 17 is a base station side computer, and 18 is an operation management database. is there. Here, only the operating vehicle 1 is shown as a representative of the operating vehicles, but other operating vehicles have the same configuration.

The operating vehicle 1 has a vehicle speed, an engine speed,
Vehicle data detecting means 10 to 12 for detecting vehicle data such as a traveling position, processing detection signals from them,
A vehicle-side computer 13 that stores data to be transmitted in a transmission memory 14 and a transmission / reception unit 15 that transmits and receives data to and from the base station 5 are mounted. On the other hand, the base station 5
A transmitting and receiving unit 16 for transmitting and receiving to and from the operating vehicle 1;
A base station-side computer 17 that processes transmitted vehicle data and generates operation management information (eg, instructions and warnings) to be sent to the operation vehicle 1, and operation management that stores vehicle data and the like. A database 18 is provided. Vehicle data is transmitted from the operating vehicle 1 to the base station 5, and operation management information is transmitted from the base station 5 to the operating vehicle 1.

[0007] Conventional documents relating to the vehicle operation management system include, for example, JP-A-56-118198.

[0008]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional vehicle operation management system described above, even when the operating vehicle is traveling in an area where the communication environment is not well developed, it is necessary to transmit the information by itself. When it came, it could not be sent at all, or it was partially cut off, but in such a case, it had to be sent again the next time, and it was troublesome twice. And the communication cost increases.

(Explanation of Problems) When performing data communication using a mobile phone or a wireless device, there are some areas where the communication environment has not yet been sufficiently prepared in some areas. Such an area will be referred to as a “data communication inappropriate area”. In FIG.
The operating vehicle 2 is running in the data communication inappropriate area 6. When it is time to transmit data to the base station 5 while the operating vehicle 2 is traveling in the area 6 where data communication is not appropriate, the transmission to the base station 5 is started. , The data to be sent may be interrupted, or the data may not be sent at all, and the transmission may fail.

[0010] In such a case, the next time the data transmission is to be performed by itself, the current data of which transmission failed is retransmitted, and the next data is also transmitted. The next time you should send,
Unfortunately, if you are traveling in another area where data communication is not appropriate, there is a possibility that transmission will fail again, and if this overlaps, it will take a lot of trouble. For this reason, the efficiency of data transmission is low, and the communication cost is increased. An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, data communication is performed between an operating vehicle and a base station, and a base station is provided based on vehicle data transmitted from the vehicle. In a vehicle operation management system that issues a necessary command from a station and manages the operation of a vehicle, data communicable area data indicating an area where data communication between the vehicle and the base station can be favorably performed is stored in the base station. Accumulate in the operation management database, query from the vehicle to the base station whether there is a data communication area within a predetermined distance in the traveling direction of the vehicle,
If there is, the data communication from the vehicle to the base station is performed when the vehicle reaches the data communicable area, and if there is no data communication or the base station cannot be communicated, the communication execution time is set and performed at that time. I decided that.

(Summary of operation to be solved) In the operation management database of the base station, data communicable area data indicating an area where data communication can be favorably performed between the operation vehicle and the base station is stored. Can make an inquiry to the base station to determine whether there is a data communication area within a predetermined distance in the traveling direction. If there is a data communicable area, the operation is performed when the user arrives in the area. Otherwise, the operation is performed at a separately set time. By doing so, the probability that data communication will be performed satisfactorily increases, and it is less necessary to repeat the communication twice and three times, so that the trouble of communication is reduced and the communication cost is reduced.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The conceptual diagram of the vehicle operation management system of the present invention is the same as FIG. However, the difference is that the transmission from the operating vehicle is not performed simply because a certain period of time has elapsed or the vehicle has traveled a certain distance, but in consideration of the communication environment in the area where the vehicle is running. I do. For this reason, a new configuration is applied to both the operating vehicle side and the base station side, the communication execution time is determined from a viewpoint different from the conventional one, and the data transmission procedure is different from the conventional one.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle and a base station in the vehicle operation management system of the present invention. The reference numerals correspond to those in FIG. 2, 19 is a data communication uneasy area flag, and 20 is data communication available area data. As the operating vehicle, only the operating vehicle 1 is shown as a representative of the operating vehicle, but the same applies to other operating vehicles.

In the operation management database 18 of the base station 5, data communicable area data 20 is stored in advance. The data communicable area data 20 is data as to what kind of area the data communication from the operating vehicle to the base station is satisfactorily performed. In the data communicable area data 20, areas that have already been determined to be good are stored in advance.

On the other hand, the vehicle-side computer 1 of the operating vehicle 1
3, a data communication uneasiness area flag 19 is provided.
This flag indicates an area other than the data communication area (ie,
In an area where it is uneasy whether data communication can be performed well or not), it is necessary to set before the data communication from the operating vehicle 1 to the base station 5 and reset if the data communication is successfully performed. . Then, the successfully performed area is additionally registered in the data communicable area data 20 of the base station 5 as the data communicable area.

Hereinafter, a procedure of data communication from the operating vehicle to the base station will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an overall procedure when transmitting from the vehicle to the base station. Step 1: When a vehicle ignition switch (not shown) is turned on, various necessary initializations in the vehicle-side computer 13 are performed. Step 2: Attempt to connect to the base station 5.

Step 3: It is checked whether or not the vehicle can connect to the base station. If the connection cannot be established, the process proceeds to step 6, and processing that can be performed even if connection to the base station is not established is performed. Step 4: Inquire the base station 5 whether or not a data communicable area exists within a predetermined distance in the traveling direction of the vehicle.
The operation management database 1 is stored in the base station side computer 17.
Then, the user is asked to check the data communicable area data 20 of No. 8 and, if there is one, notify the area. Shortly after this inquiry is completed, the connection with the base station 5 is disconnected.
Generally, this is because the base station 5 disconnects the line with the vehicle if there is no data flow for a certain period of time.
The predetermined distance is a distance appropriately determined by an interval at which the base station 5 wants to know the latest state of the vehicle. If the vehicle data need only be sent at long intervals, the predetermined distance is long, but if it is desired to be sent at short intervals, the predetermined distance is short.

Step 5: It is checked whether or not a data communicable area within a predetermined distance in the traveling direction has been found and notified from the base station 5. Step 6: If no data is found, a time for performing data communication from the vehicle to the base station 5 is set. If a data communicable area is found, the process is performed when the user arrives in that area. However, this is not possible because the data communicable area was not found. Therefore, in order to fulfill the duty of transmitting the vehicle data to the base station 5 at a predetermined interval, a communication execution time for performing the transmission is set. The time can be set at any time and minutes,
You may set it as many minutes after now. If you want to set how many minutes from now, it is necessary to provide a timer. Step 7: Various vehicle data (eg, vehicle speed, engine speed, running position, etc.) detected by the vehicle data detecting means 10 to 12 are stored and stored in a memory (not shown) of the vehicle-side computer 13.

Step 8: If the communication execution time has been set in step 5, it is checked whether or not the time has been reached. If the time is set to what time, the judgment is made in light of the time of the clock held by the vehicle-side computer 13. In the case where the setting method has been set to what number of minutes from now, it is determined whether or not the time measured by the timer has reached the set time. If a data communicable area has been found in step 4, the process proceeds to YES, and the communication execution time is not set.
You will go to.

Step 9: When the communication execution time set in Step 5 has been reached, data communication from the vehicle to the base station 5 is started, although the area is not a data communicable area. , The data communication uneasiness area flag 19 is set. Step 10: At the same time, the next communication execution time is provisionally set. Step 11: The process proceeds to NO in step 7 when a data communicable area is found. Therefore, as long as you reach the area, data communication will be executed,
Find out if you have reached the area. This is determined by a detection signal from the traveling position detecting means in the vehicle data detecting means. Step 1 if not yet reached
Proceed to 3.

Step 12: Various vehicle data stored in the memory of the vehicle-side computer 13 is moved to the transmission memory 14 in preparation for data communication from the vehicle to the base station 5. Step 13: The vehicle data in the transmission memory 14 is transmitted to the base station 5 via the transmission / reception unit 15. Details of the transmission procedure will be described with reference to FIG. Step 14: Check whether the ignition switch has been turned off. If it is still on, go back to step 6,
The subsequent steps are repeated, and if it is off, the control ends.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a transmission procedure from a vehicle to a base station. Step 1: Attempt to connect to the base station 5. Step 2: Check whether the vehicle can connect to the base station. If the connection cannot be established, the connection is temporarily terminated (go to the end), and the connection is attempted again in the next flow. Step 3: Transmit various vehicle data prepared in the transmission memory 14 to the base station 5. The transmitted vehicle data is accumulated in the operation management database 18. Step 4: Check whether the line between the vehicle and the base station 5 has been disconnected. This line is configured so that the base station 5 disconnects when data does not flow for a certain period of time.
After the transmission of all the prepared vehicle data is completed, the connection is cut off when the predetermined time has elapsed. If disconnected, the process proceeds to step 8 to prepare for the next transmission.

Step 5: If the line has not been disconnected yet, check whether transmission of vehicle data has been completed. If it still remains, return to step 2 and repeat the transmission. Step 6: If the transmission of the vehicle data has been completed, it is checked whether or not the data communication anxiety area flag 19 is set. Being set means that this communication was performed in an area that is not a data communication area, and being reset means that this communication was performed in a data communication area. Means that

Step 7: Data communication uneasy area flag 1
If 9 has been set, the flag is cleared (reset). This is because the transmission of all data has been completed and the use of the flag has been completed. Step 8: The position where the vehicle is currently traveling is determined by the base station 5.
To be registered in the data communicable area data 20 of the operation management database 18. In other words, the area where communication was performed this time was an area that was not registered as a data communicable area, but since communication was performed successfully, the area was added to the data communicable area data 20. The purpose is to keep it.

Step 9: An inquiry is made to the base station 5 as to whether or not a data communicable area exists within a predetermined distance in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The base station-side computer 17 checks the data communicable area data 20 of the operation management database 18, and if so, notifies the area.
(Same as step 3 in FIG. 4) Step 10: It is checked from the base station 5 whether a data communicable area within a predetermined distance in the traveling direction has been found and notified. (Same as step 4 in FIG. 4) Step 11 ...
If a data communicable area is found within a predetermined distance in the traveling direction, the next communication is performed in that area, so that the next communication execution time provisionally set in step 9 in FIG. 4 is unnecessary. Therefore, it invalidates.

[0027]

As described above, according to the vehicle operation management system of the present invention, the operation vehicle inquires of the base station,
Be able to check whether there is a data communication area where data communication can be performed well within a predetermined distance in the traveling direction,
If there is an area where data communication is possible, it is performed when it reaches the area, otherwise it is performed at a separately set time. This allows
Since the probability that data communication is performed well becomes high and the number of times of retrying the communication twice and three times is reduced, the trouble of the communication is saved and the communication cost is reduced. In addition, the data communication uneasy area, but the area that was found to be communicable when we tried to communicate is automatically registered in the operation management database immediately. You can keep it up to date.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle and a base station in a vehicle operation management system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a vehicle and a base station in the conventional vehicle operation management system.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a vehicle operation management system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an overall procedure when transmitting from a vehicle to a base station.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a transmission procedure from a vehicle to a base station.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-4: operating vehicles, 5: base station, 6: unsuitable area for data communication, 10-12: vehicle data detecting means, 13: vehicle-side computer, 14: transmission memory, 15, 16: transmitting / receiving unit, 17: base station Side computer, 18: Operation management database, 19: Data communication uneasy area flag, 20: Data communication available area data

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle that performs data communication between a running vehicle and a base station, and issues necessary commands from the base station based on vehicle data sent from the vehicle to manage the operation of the vehicle. In the operation management system, data communicable area data indicating an area where data communication between the vehicle and the base station can be performed satisfactorily is stored in the operation management database of the base station. Inquiry from the vehicle to the base station whether there is a data communication available area,
If there is, the data communication from the vehicle to the base station is performed when the vehicle reaches the data communicable area, and if there is no data communication or the base station cannot be communicated, the communication execution time is set and performed at that time. A vehicle operation management system characterized in that: