JPH1132374A - Information service system and its processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make channel connection efficient in a system where a center collects information from a vehicle and serves the information to other vehicle. SOLUTION: A permissible information generating section 300a of a center 300 monitors a channel use rate of a satellite 100 and generates permission information that inhibits connection to an area with a high channel use rate or adjusts a connection time when the channel use rate reaches a prescribed rate or over and the section 300a transmits the information to the satellite 100. A transmitter 100b of the satellite 100 transmits simultaneously the permission information to vehicles 200. The vehicle 200 receiving the permission information discriminates whether or not the transmission of its own vehicle and transmits information collected by a sensor 200d to the center 300 via the satellite 100 when the transmission is permitted. The center 300 processes the information and transmits the processed information to other vehicles.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing system and a processing device therefor, and more particularly, to transmitting information from a vehicle to a center, processing the information appropriately at the center, and providing the information to other vehicles requiring information. About the system to do.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a system in which information collected by a vehicle on the ground is transmitted to a center, and the information is appropriately processed by the center and provided to each vehicle.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-225895 discloses a system in which a mobile unit and a center station communicate information by mobile wireless communication, and a map information storage unit, a position specifying unit, a communication unit, An output unit, an input unit, and a control unit are provided. The center station is provided with a related information storage unit, a communication unit, a control unit, and a provided information processing unit. Information held by the mobile unit is provided to the center station, and the information is transferred to another mobile station. There is described a technology that can be used by a mobile station and improves the reliability of the information provided by a large number of mobile stations to a center station by updating the information to the latest information. A technique using a satellite for communication between the vehicle and the center station has also been proposed (for example, see the Journal of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers Vol 79, No. 4, p. 392-398).

[0004]

However, since this system communicates with a large number of vehicles, for example, transmission requests from many vehicles to the center side or reception requests from many vehicles to the center side are made at once. And the connection request collides with each other and the center cannot identify the request,
Eventually, there arises a problem that information transmitted from each vehicle cannot be processed or desired information cannot be provided to each vehicle.

[0005] Even if a connection can be made between the vehicle and the center, only the same type of information is transmitted from the vehicle, and the center cannot collect the information that is truly needed. There is also a problem that the performance is reduced.

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 to restrict the connection conditions rather than unconditionally permitting the connection between the vehicle and the center. An object of the present invention is to provide an information providing system and a processing device capable of reliably executing processing on the side and providing reliable information to each vehicle.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to transmit information collected by a mobile unit to a center side, and the center side creates provision information from the information. An information providing system for providing to a mobile body, wherein the center side is provided with permission information transmitting means for broadcasting permission information to the mobile body, and the mobile body side is provided with the center based on the permission information. The information transmission means for transmitting information is provided on the side. The “center side” includes both a satellite and a center in a system for transmitting and receiving information between a mobile unit and the center via a satellite. Also,
"Broadcast transmission" refers to simultaneous transmission to unspecified parties, instead of individual transmission to specific parties. Also,
The “mobile object” includes an airplane, a ship, a portable terminal device, and the like, in addition to a vehicle.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus for an information providing system for transmitting information collected by a mobile unit to a center side, wherein the center side creates providing information from the information and provides the information to the mobile unit. And having permission information transmitting means for broadcasting permission information to each mobile object.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus for an information providing system for transmitting information collected by a mobile unit to a center side, wherein the center side creates providing information from the information and provides the information to the mobile unit. And an in-vehicle information transmitting means for transmitting information to the center side based on the permission information transmitted from the center side.

In a fourth aspect based on the first to third aspects, the permission information includes an information type to be transmitted and received. The “information type” means the type of information content.

In a fifth aspect based on the first to third aspects, the permission information includes information for specifying a moving object to be connected. Note that the specification of a moving object includes the specification of an individual moving object as well as the specification of a moving object of the same type (ordinary car, truck, or the like) or the same traveling state (main road running).

In a sixth aspect based on the first to third aspects, the permission information includes information on an area to be connected.

[0013] In a seventh aspect based on the first to third aspects, the permission information includes information on a time to be connected.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the first and second aspects, a detecting means for detecting a line usage rate, and determining whether or not the detected line usage rate exceeds a predetermined value. Means for broadcasting the permission information when the line usage rate exceeds the predetermined value.

[0015]

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

FIG. 1 shows a basic system configuration example of the present invention. In the present invention, the permission information is broadcast from the center to the vehicle.
(A), (B), and (C). (A) shows a case where communication between the vehicle 200 and the center 300 via the satellite 100 is performed.
In this example, permission information is transmitted to the satellite 100 from the satellite 100, and the satellite 100 that receives the permission information broadcasts the permission information to the vehicle 200. (B) shows satellite 1 in the same manner as (A).
This is an example of transmitting permission information from the satellite 100 to the vehicle 200 in a case where communication is performed between the vehicle 200 and the center 300 via 00. (C) shows the vehicle 20
This is a case where permission information is broadcasted from the center 300 to the vehicle 200 when direct communication is performed between the center 300 and the center 300. The present invention can be applied to any case. However, in the present embodiment, the case (A) will be described by taking a transmitting vehicle for transmitting information as an example.

FIG. 2 shows a satellite 10 according to this embodiment.
0, a configuration block diagram of a vehicle (transmitting vehicle) 200 and a center 300 is shown. In this configuration, the basic operation of the system, that is, the information individually collected by the transmitting vehicle 200 is transmitted to the satellite 100, the information relayed by the satellite 100 is transmitted to the center 300, the information received by the center 300 is appropriately processed, and The operation of transmitting the information to the satellite 100 and providing the information to the vehicle that needs the information from the satellite 100 is as follows.

First, various sensors 200d of the transmitting vehicle 200
Gather information at The information to be collected, for example, around the vehicle image, speed, temperature, humidity, engine operating condition (air-fuel ratio, etc.), atmospheric environment, such as NOx and CO _2, the road surface mu, acceleration, yaw rate, atmospheric pressure, illuminance, vehicle accident , Airbag operation information, wiper operation information, rainfall, headlight operation information, outside air switching information of an air conditioner, environmental noise, and the like.
These detection signals are supplied to the CPU 200c,
200c further outputs to transmitter 200e. Transmitter 2
At 00e, a connection request is issued to the satellite 100 to connect the line, and the information is transmitted. In the satellite 100, the vehicle 20
0 from the receiver 100a.
b, and the transmitter 100b transmits the reception information to the center 300. In the center 300, the satellite 100
Is received by the receiver 300c and further supplied to the information processing section 300d. The information processing unit 300d is configured by a computer, processes received information into information to be provided to each vehicle (for example, averages information received from each vehicle), and outputs the information to the transmitter 300b. Transmitter 30
0b transmits the provided information to the satellite 100. Satellite 1
00, the provided information is received by the receiver 100a and the transmitter 1
00b. The transmitter 100b transmits the provided information individually to the vehicle (reception vehicle) that has requested the information reception, or broadcasts the provided information to each vehicle.

The above is the basic operation of the present system. In the present embodiment, when such a basic operation is performed, permission information is broadcasted from the center side (that is, the satellite 100 and the center 300) to each vehicle. A connection request matching the permission information can be issued, and information collected only by the vehicle for which the connection request has been accepted is transmitted to the center side (satellite 10).
0 and the center 300). Specifically, the center 300 is provided with a permission information generation unit 300a constituted by a computer, and transmits the permission information to the transmitter 30.
0b. The transmitter 300b transmits the permission information to the satellite 100, and transmits the permission information to the transmitter 100b of the satellite 100.
Broadcasts this permission information to each transmitting vehicle 200. In each transmitting vehicle 200, the permission information is received by the receiver 200a, and the permission information analysis unit 200b constituted by a microcomputer analyzes the connection permission condition and the like. The specific contents of the connection permission condition will be described later. Then, the analysis result is supplied to the CPU 200c. The CPU 200c determines whether or not the own vehicle satisfies the connection permission condition, and if so, transmits a connection request to the satellite 100 via the transmitter 200e.

Hereinafter, processing at the center 300 and the transmission vehicle 2
The process at 00 will be described in more detail with reference to a flowchart.

FIG. 3 shows the main processing of the center 300. First, the permission information generation unit 30 of the center 300
0a, the line usage rate of the transceiver of the satellite 100 and the transmission vehicle 2
From 00, the amount of the connection request transmitted to the satellite 100 and the like are monitored, and it is determined whether there is a margin in the line connection state (S101). If there is no room on the line, send car 2
The connection request from 00 is rejected (S109). If there is room in the line, the line with the transmitting vehicle 200 that issued the connection request is connected (S102), and information is received (S103).
The received information is sent to the information processing section 300d, and the type of the received information is confirmed. The type of information is the type of information such as whether the information is image information, vehicle speed data, road surface μ data, and the like, and the information processing unit 300d stores received information in a memory for each type (S105). Then, for each type of information, processing corresponding to the type is performed (S10).
6). The processing according to the type is, for example, averaging every certain time and every certain area if the information type is road surface μ data. After processing the information to generate the provided information, the timing at which the provided information is updated (for example, 15
(S107), and if it is an update time, the transmission information is transmitted from the transmitter 300b to the satellite 100 (S108). Then, the satellite 100 transmits the information to the vehicle or each vehicle that desires to provide the information as described above.

On the other hand, FIG. 4 shows a line state confirmation process executed in parallel with the main process. First, the permission information generation unit 300a reads the line status (S20
1), it is determined whether the line usage rate is appropriate (S202). This determination can be made based on, for example, whether or not the line usage rate is within 80 to 90%. If it is determined that the line usage rate has deviated from the predetermined value, the permission information is updated (S
203). The permission information is always transmitted to the transmitting vehicle 200 via the satellite 100 (S204).

FIGS. 5, 6, 7 and 8 show examples of processing flowcharts of permission information creation performed in S203. In FIG. 5, the permission information generation unit 300a calculates the amount of information for each area (S301), specifies an area with a large amount of information (S302), and permits the area with a large amount of information based on the amount of information. The information is generated and broadcast (S303). Specific permission information includes (1) uniformly prohibiting transmission in an area with a large amount of information, and (2) preferentially transmitting only predetermined information to an area with a large amount of information. Regarding (1), besides simply prohibiting transmission,
If the connection request is sent to the center when the amount of information collected by each transmitting vehicle 200 reaches or exceeds a predetermined threshold, the threshold is uniformly increased. As a result, the connection request is prohibited. Also,
Regarding (2), more specifically, for example, when there is a possibility of a frozen road in winter, transmission of information related to slip is permitted and transmission of other information is prohibited, or traffic congestion is expected. During the time period, transmission of vehicle speed and acceleration information is permitted and transmission of other information is prohibited, or when lightning is likely to occur in summer, transmission of wiper operation information is permitted and transmission of other information is prohibited. For example, transmission of highly important information or highly urgent information is permitted. of course,
Instead of broadcasting such information only to an area having a large amount of information, it is also possible to broadcast information to all areas by adding information for specifying an area in which permission information is valid. Conversely, the permission information may be generated so that a transmitting vehicle in an area having a small amount of information transmits a large amount of information. In addition to restricting transmission in areas with a large amount of information in this way, by actively transmitting to areas with a small amount of information, control to maintain the balance of the amount of information in each area to ensure reliable information Becomes possible. Note that a line usage rate or the like may be used instead of the information amount for each area.

In FIG. 6, the permission information generation unit 300a
Calculates the amount of information for each area (S401), specifies an area with a large amount of information (S402), generates connection time information based on the amount of information for the area with a large amount of information, and broadcasts it. (S403). More specifically, the transmission timing of the transmitting vehicle 200 in the area may be uniformly defined, or the transmission timing may be shifted with respect to each transmitting vehicle 200 in the area. When the timing is uniformly defined as in the former case, for example, for a transmitting vehicle in an area having a large amount of information, connection timing information for delaying the transmission until a time when the amount of information received by the center becomes an appropriate amount of information is generated. The next connection time of the transmitting vehicle is calculated from the current information amount or a change in the information amount. FIG. 9 shows an example of the latter case. If each transmitting vehicle 200 issues a connection request when the amount of collected information exceeds a threshold, for example, a threshold that changes with time as indicated by a solid line for vehicle A in the area. A value is set, and a threshold value is set for the vehicle B such that the phase of the time change is shifted by a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) as shown by a broken line. As a result, the transmission timing (connection request timing) of the car A and the car B is shifted by a predetermined time, and the amount of information processed by the center can be kept in an optimum range.

In FIG. 7, the permission information generator 300a
Calculates the amount of information for each area (S501), specifies an area with a large amount of information (S502), and creates connection-permitted vehicle specifying information based on the amount of information for this high area (S503). Specifically, only connection of a vehicle in which an accident has occurred (accident vehicle) is permitted, only connection of a truck is permitted, only connection of a vehicle traveling on a main arterial road is permitted, and the like. Generally, it is desirable to allow connection of vehicles having urgent or important information.

In FIG. 8, the permission information generation unit 300a
Checks the processing status of various types of information (S701), and specifies the type (type) of the information that is insufficiently processed (S702). More specifically, since information is stored for each type in the memory of the information processing unit 300d, the permission information generating unit 300a can identify which information type is insufficient by accessing this memory. Then, in order to collect information of the missing type, permission information for permitting information transmission of the type is created and broadcasted (S703). For example, when the temperature data is sufficiently collected but the rainfall data and the road surface μ data are insufficient, permission information for permitting only the transmission of the rainfall data and the road surface μ data is broadcast.
Of course, the permission information for instructing to shorten the transmission cycle of the missing information and lengthen the transmission cycle of other information is broadcasted, and as a result, the missing information is collected preferentially. Such a configuration is also possible.

As described above, the center side broadcasts a connection permission request instructing the prohibition of connection and the adjustment of timing, the limitation of connected vehicles, the limitation of the type of connection information, and the like. To prevent

On the other hand, FIGS. 10 and 11 show the transmission vehicle 2 when such permission information is broadcast from the center side.
A process flowchart on the 00 side is shown. FIG. 10 shows the main processing of the transmission vehicle 200, and various sensors 200d.
CPU 200c reads the information detected in step (S80).
1), transmission data to be transmitted to the satellite 100 is created (S802). Next, it is determined whether or not the preparation of the transmission data has been completed (S803), and it is further determined whether or not the transmission permission information of the information collected by the own vehicle is included in the permission information broadcast from the satellite. A determination is made (S804). Specifically, the permission information broadcast from the satellite 100 is transmitted to the receiver 2
00a, is analyzed by the permission information analysis unit 200b, and supplied to the CPU 200c. Is determined.
If transmission is permitted, a connection request is issued to the center side, and the collected information is transmitted to the center side (S80).
5). If the content of the permission information is the adjustment of the connection time, the transmission is suspended until that time. If the content of the permission information permits the transmission of the specific type of information, the transmission of the collected data is permitted. If there is information of a certain type, a connection request is issued and only that information is transmitted to the center side.

FIG. 11 shows permission information analysis processing performed in parallel with the main processing described above.
00b confirms whether or not permission information is present in the permission information received by the receiver 200a (S901). If there is permission information, the permission information is extracted and decoded (S90).
2). By analyzing the contents of the permission information, it is determined whether transmission of the own vehicle (or information owned by the own vehicle) is prohibited (S903). If the transmission is prohibited, the transmission prohibition flag is changed from OFF to ON. (S904), the CPU 200c
Output to If the transmission of the own vehicle is not prohibited, the transmission prohibition flag remains OFF, and accordingly, the CPU 200c
Transmits the information collected by the vehicle to the satellite 100.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the case of FIG. 1A, but as shown in FIG.
If you want to broadcast permission information directly from
0, the permission information generation unit 3 as the center 300 has
00a must be provided.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of each unit corresponding to FIG. The difference from FIG. 2 is that a permission information generation unit 100 c is provided in the satellite 100. The function of the permission information generation unit 100c is the same as that of the permission information generation unit 300a, and monitors the information amount and the connection request amount of the satellite 100 to limit the transmission request when the line usage rate exceeds an appropriate range. Alternatively, when the line usage rate is less than an appropriate range, permission information for controlling an increase in transmission may be broadcast.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the line connection to the center can be controlled or limited, so that the optimum line can always be used, and communication on the center (including satellites) can be performed. By properly setting the load and the processing load, reliable information can be reliably provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system configuration according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a processing flowchart (No. 1) of a center.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart (part 2) of a process performed by a center.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart (part 1) of a center permission information generation process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart (part 2) of a center permission information generation process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart (part 3) of a center permission information generation process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart (part 4) of a center permission information generation process.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing threshold setting as permission information.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart (part 1) of a process performed by the vehicle.

FIG. 11 is a processing flowchart (part 2) of the vehicle.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a system configuration according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 satellites, 200 vehicles (transmitting vehicles), 300 centers.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Atsushi Sakasaka 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Toyota Motor Corporation

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An information providing system for transmitting information collected by a mobile unit to a center side, wherein the center side creates provision information from the information and provides the information to the mobile unit. Permission information transmitting means for broadcasting permission information to a mobile body is provided, and information transmission means for transmitting information to the center side based on the permission information is provided on the mobile body side. Delivery system. 2. A processing device for an information providing system for transmitting information collected by a mobile unit to a center side, wherein the center side creates providing information from the information and provides the information to the mobile unit. A processing apparatus for an information providing system, comprising: permission information transmitting means for broadcasting permission information to a body. 3. A processing device for an information providing system for transmitting information collected by a mobile unit to a center side, wherein the center side creates provision information from the information and provides the information to the mobile unit, An information transmitting unit mounted on the vehicle for transmitting information to the center based on the permission information transmitted from the side. 4. The information providing system or the information providing system processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said permission information includes an information type to be transmitted and received. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the permission information includes information for specifying a moving object to be connected.
The information providing system according to any one of 2, 3 or a processing device of the information providing system. 6. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the permission information includes information on an area to be connected. 7. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the permission information includes information on a time to be connected. 8. A system further comprising: detecting means for detecting a line usage rate; and determining means for determining whether or not the detected line usage rate exceeds a predetermined value, wherein the line usage rate exceeds the predetermined value. 3. The information providing system or the information processing system processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the permission information is broadcasted when the information is provided.