KR20190080392A - Apparatus and method for propagating road traffic sign information - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for propagating road traffic signal information and to a method thereof. By far propagating road traffic sign information using a GDD defining information related to a road traffic sign, the apparatus recognizes road conditions ahead in advance even before passing traffic signs on vehicles including autonomous vehicles, thereby quickly responding to changes in road conditions ahead.

Description

Field of the Invention < RTI ID = 0.0 > [0001] < / RTI &

The present invention relates to a road traffic sign information propagation apparatus and a method thereof, and more particularly, to a road traffic sign information propagation apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a road traffic sign information propagation apparatus and method using the GDD (Graphic Data Dictionary) The present invention relates to a road traffic sign information propagation apparatus and method for allowing a vehicle including an autonomous vehicle to recognize a road situation ahead of the road ahead of a road traffic sign, .

Generally, road traffic signs are installed solely or combined with road signs and signals in an organic or complementary manner to provide traffic safety facilities that transmit information such as attention, regulation, and instructions to the driver of the vehicle for safety of the road traffic it means. In other words, the road traffic sign provides the driver of the vehicle with a consistent and unified method of traffic safety and smooth flow of the vehicle, and provides various information necessary for protecting the road facilities, the driver and the pedestrian.

Road traffic sign information effectively prevents traffic accidents from being transmitted to a moving vehicle, and plays a big role in reducing traffic congestion by smoothly flowing the vehicle.

It is very important that these road traffic sign information are standardized and recognized globally. Therefore, GDD which defines information related to road traffic signs as graphic data is standardized.

As the demand for smart cars including autonomous vehicles increases, the necessity and demand for exchange of information between roads and vehicles is increasing. However, the infrastructure to meet this demand is still insufficient.

Particularly, it is important to exchange information between vehicles installed on the road and cars because it is possible to cause serious problems due to network delays and bad communication conditions.

Recently, with the rapid development of industrial development and information communication technology, various wireless communication technologies for wirelessly transmitting digital data such as Wi-Fi, LIFI and 4G have been developed and commercialized.

Among them, LiFi (Light Fidelity) is a device that transmits information to light and transmits / receives digital data between devices. Unlike WiFi communication technology using radio waves, the principle of transmitting digital data through a visible light Speeds up to 250 times faster than broadband communications.

That is, the LiFi technology is a type of Visible Light Communication (VLC) that transmits information using the wavelength of light emitted from an LED, and can be used anywhere that light is illuminated, is harmless to the human body, It has various advantages such as low cost, high speed communication, stability and security, and it is advantageous that the frequency use fee is free in the unauthorized band.

In particular, LiFi has spread to various vehicle devices such as LED headlamp lamps and signal lamps in accordance with the development and high performance of LED technology, and technological conditions for applying LiFi technology to vehicles are being developed.

On the other hand, it is important for the driver of a motor vehicle or autonomous vehicle to recognize in advance the dangerous or problematic road situation, traffic restriction, prohibition guidance, instruction contents of the current road through various graphical road traffic signs.

The road traffic sign may be a sign indicating danger or problem such as cross-shaped intersection, T-shaped intersection, left confluence road, double curved road, slippery road, uneven road surface, Such as road signs, which are signs that prohibit or limit the passage of vehicles such as cars, buses, buses, buses, buses, buses, buses,

In this way, the driver of the vehicle or the self-driving vehicle can visually check the graphic information of the road traffic signboard installed on the road or the roadside while driving, recognize the road situation ahead, recognize the road situation ahead, .

However, since the conventional road traffic sign as described above allows the driver of the vehicle or the autonomous vehicle to check the road condition based on the recognition of the graphic information displayed on the road traffic sign, the information of the road traffic sign can not be confirmed or is erroneously recognized A case may arise. Particularly, in the conventional road traffic sign, there is no difficulty in recognizing the graphic information during the daytime, but it is difficult to accurately recognize the graphic information displayed on the road traffic sign if the clock is bad due to bad weather such as mist, rain, snow, If the visibility is not secured, there is a problem that the graphic information of the road traffic sign can not be recognized at all.

In addition, since the conventional road traffic sign can be confirmed only when the driving vehicle reaches the point where the road traffic sign is installed, when the information about the road situation provided by the road traffic sign is imminently detected at the place where the actual road traffic sign is installed , There is a problem that a driver or an autonomous vehicle can not quickly respond to a change in the road condition ahead, or a safety accident with an adjacent automobile occurs due to a sudden change in the lane.

In order to solve these problems, recently, a camera is mounted on a car and a technique of recognizing a road traffic sign is used. However, even if the technology for recognizing road traffic signs through the camera is used, it is possible to recognize the road traffic sign information only when the road traffic sign is close to the road traffic sign. Therefore, the information about the road traffic sign in the vehicle driver or the self- It is difficult to recognize the road situation ahead of the vehicle.

Therefore, according to the present invention, by receiving and recognizing the road traffic sign information transmitted by using the GDD which defines the road traffic sign as graphic data in a specific vehicle traveling on the road, it propagates it to the vehicle at the rear, This paper proposes a method of recognizing the road situation ahead of the road ahead of the road traffic sign and recognizing the road situation ahead of the road.

Next, a brief description will be given of the prior arts that exist in the technical field of the present invention, and technical matters which the present invention intends to differentiate from the prior arts will be described.

Korean Patent Registration No. 1394884 (Apr. 25, 2014) discloses a congestion control apparatus and method for inter-vehicle communication. Unlike the conventional communication system, a time frame is variably set based on the peripheral communication conditions, The present invention provides a communication congestion control apparatus and method in which data transmission is smooth between vehicles in accordance with a surrounding situation by transmitting data based on a time frame to be transmitted.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, a GDD that defines information related to a road traffic sign in a specific vehicle driving on the road receives and recognizes information about a road traffic sign transmitted from a road traffic sign or another vehicle, And suggests a technical structure that propagates to the following vehicles.

Therefore, unlike the present invention, the prior art described above is a configuration for transmitting / receiving the vehicle driving information to / from the neighboring vehicle. It receives the road traffic sign information transmitted from the road traffic signboard and propagates to the rearward vehicle There is no configuration in which the road situation ahead can be confirmed in advance and the road situation change in the front can be quickly responded to, and the difference in the technical structure between the two is clear.

Korean Patent No. 0515952 (Sep. 23, 2005) is related to a traffic information exchange method using direct communication between vehicles. It is a vehicle communication system in which vehicles without any assistance from various wireless communication base stations, wireless repeaters, The present invention provides a method of generating and exchanging traffic information by using direct communication during a wireless communication terminal installed in the mobile communication terminal.

However, the above-mentioned prior art discloses a configuration and an advantageous effect that the cost due to the use of the infrastructure is not required by generating and exchanging the traffic information by using the direct communication during the wireless communication terminals installed in the vehicle. The road traffic sign information transmitted from the road traffic signboard or transmitted from another vehicle is recognized and received using the GDD which is a dictionary of the information on the road traffic sign, and the road traffic sign information is transmitted to another car following the rear The description of the technical configuration is not provided.

That is, the prior arts disclose a configuration for preventing the occurrence of a safety accident by exchanging information on the speed and distance of a nearby vehicle, and a configuration for collecting and distributing traffic information between vehicles. However, There is no detailed description of the configuration for receiving and recognizing the road traffic sign information transmitted using the GDD, which is defined by the graphic data, as the graphic data, and then propagating it to the vehicle at the rear.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for spreading road traffic sign information using a GDD that defines information related to a road traffic sign, which is created to solve the above problems.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for recognizing information on a road traffic sign in an automobile including an autonomous vehicle that travels on a road far before the position where the road traffic sign is installed do.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus and method for receiving and recognizing road traffic sign information that is displayed on a road traffic sign in a car passing through a road traffic sign or transmitted by using GDD in a road traffic sign, Another purpose is to provide.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for transmitting information on a road traffic sign received and recognized from another vehicle to another vehicle in a road running vehicle.

In order to prevent a driver or an autonomous vehicle from suddenly being unable to respond to a road situation when the automobile arrives at a place where a road traffic sign is installed, Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for receiving information on a road traffic sign from a vehicle passing through the road traffic sign and confirming a road situation ahead.

The present invention also provides a road traffic sign that is received and recognized from a road traffic sign or other vehicle in an automobile running on a road so as to obtain efficiency such that a greater number of road traffic signs are installed than an actual road traffic sign is installed. Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for notifying information to another vehicle in the rear.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for pre-propagating information of a road traffic sign according to traffic of an automobile.

The road traffic sign information propagation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an information receiving unit installed in an automobile and receiving or obtaining road traffic sign information from a road traffic sign board and an information transmission unit for transmitting the road traffic sign information to another vehicle And the road traffic sign information is expanded more than the range provided by the road traffic sign.

In addition, the transmission of the road traffic sign information is performed through OCC (Optical Camera Communication).

And the information transmission unit transmits the road traffic sign information defined on the basis of the GDD to another automobile.

The information receiving unit may further receive the road traffic sign information transmitted from another vehicle.

The information receiver further includes a camera receiver including an image sensor for capturing and receiving the road traffic sign information transmitted from the road traffic sign board or another automobile.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a road traffic sign information propagation method including: receiving information about road traffic sign information from a road traffic sign information in a road traffic sign information propagator installed in a vehicle; And transmitting the information to other vehicles, wherein the road traffic sign information is expanded more than the range provided by the road traffic sign.

Also, the transmission of the road traffic sign information is performed through the OCC.

And the information transmission step transmits the road traffic sign information defined on the basis of the GDD to another automobile.

The information receiving step may further include receiving the road traffic sign information transmitted from another vehicle.

The information receiving step may further include photographing and receiving the road traffic sign information transmitted from the road traffic sign or another vehicle through a camera receiver including an image sensor.

As described above, according to the road traffic sign information propagation apparatus and method of the present invention, the road traffic sign is defined as graphic data and the road traffic sign is installed at each position of the road based on the GDD, By transmitting the road traffic sign information received from the road traffic signs or other vehicles from the vehicle including the autonomous driving vehicle traveling on the road to another vehicle in the rear, the rear vehicle can confirm the road situation ahead Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the vehicle arriving at the road traffic sign from suddenly failing to cope with the change in the road situation ahead due to the sudden identification of the road traffic sign information.

In addition, it is possible to recognize information on road traffic signage far before the position where the road traffic signboard is installed in a vehicle that runs on the road, and it is possible to recognize more information on the road traffic signboard And it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a safety accident due to an unexpected operation of the vehicle running on the road in advance.

1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a road traffic sign information propagation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a road traffic sign information propagation process to which the present invention is applied.
3 is a detailed view showing the configuration of the road traffic sign information propagator shown in Fig.
4 is a diagram showing an example of a road direction indication defined in the GDD used in the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining recognition and display of road traffic sign information and a radio wave processing process applied to the present invention.
6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the road traffic sign information propagation method according to an embodiment of the present invention in detail.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the road traffic sign information propagation apparatus and method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference symbols in the drawings denote like elements. Furthermore, specific structural and functional descriptions for embodiments of the present invention are presented for the purpose of describing an embodiment of the present invention only, and, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms Have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as ideal or overly formal in the sense of the art unless explicitly defined herein .

1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a road traffic sign information propagation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention allows the information on the road traffic sign to be recognized from the position far before the road traffic sign is installed through the GDD which defines the road traffic sign as graphical data in the car passing through the road traffic sign, It enables the driver of a general car or autonomous vehicle to check the road situation in front of the road ahead and prevents the driver from quickly responding to the change of the road situation ahead when the road traffic sign is approached and information about the road traffic sign is confirmed. While helping to operate the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 1, the road traffic sign includes road traffic sign information according to the GDD. When the road traffic sign information transmitter 100 transmits a signal obtained by coding the GPS information and the road traffic sign information of the road traffic sign The road traffic sign information propagator 200 provided in the vehicle compares the GPS information of the road traffic sign transmitted from the road traffic sign information transmitter 100 with the GPS information confirmed by the own vehicle and outputs the distance information to the road traffic sign information Recognizes the road traffic sign information and carries out the operation of the vehicle, and propagates the signal obtained by coding the GPS information and the road traffic sign information of the road traffic sign to another vehicle following the rear.

At this time, the road traffic sign information propagator 200 receives and recognizes the road traffic sign information directly from the road traffic sign board, receives and recognizes the road traffic sign information propagated from another vehicle running in front, One road traffic sign information can be propagated to another vehicle in the rear.

For example, the road traffic sign information propagator 200 provided in the car # 1 receives and recognizes the road traffic sign information transmitted directly from the road traffic sign, propagates the information to the car in the rear, The traffic sign information propagator 200 receives and recognizes the road traffic sign information transmitted from the road traffic sign information propagator 200 provided in the vehicle # 1, and propagates it to other cars in the rear.

The road traffic sign information transmitter 100 provided on the road traffic sign may provide the road traffic sign information itself to an automobile including the autonomous vehicle having the road traffic sign information propagator 200, GPS information of the GDD and code information of the GDD may be transmitted by visible communication means such as LiFi, VLC, OCC or the like, or may be transmitted by invisible communication means such as infrared rays, ultrasonic waves, and wireless communication (5G).

Also, GPS information of the road traffic sign and code information of the GDD are transmitted and received through visible communication means such as LiFi, VLC, OCC, etc. between the road traffic sign information propagators 200 provided in each vehicle, And can transmit and receive road traffic sign information.

Here, the provision of a plurality of visible or non-visible wireless communication means is for preventing a situation in which the traffic information of each vehicle is received in a multiplexed environment including duplication or triplication and is not recognized or recognized.

If an error occurs in recognizing the road traffic sign information, it leads to a large accident. Therefore, in the present invention, the error rate of receiving and recognizing is reduced by duplicating with a plurality of communication means. In the case of recognizing a plurality of road traffic mark information simultaneously by a plurality of communication means, there is no problem if the information recognized by each communication means is the same. However, when they do not coincide with each other, wireless communication signals such as WiFi, 5G, LTE, , Ultrasonic waves, and infrared signals, and adopts a weighting method for the signals in descending order of reliability. In the case of 5G, the car wireless network supports a low-latency and reliable network slice to support services for connected cars in a use case.

2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a road traffic sign information propagation process to which the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the vehicle arrives at a place where a road traffic sign is installed, the information about the road situation ahead is suddenly presented to the vehicle to prevent the driver or the autonomous vehicle from responding , The information about the road traffic sign can be received from the vehicle passing the road traffic signage far before the place where the actual road traffic sign is installed, so that the road situation ahead can be checked in advance, It is intended to help carry out safe operation in a general motor vehicle or self-propelled vehicle.

That is, the present invention can visually recognize the graphic information of the road traffic sign propagated from the road traffic sign or the preceding vehicle in an automobile including the autonomous vehicle that travels on the road, or by visually recognizing the GPS information of the road traffic sign, Recognizes the information on the road traffic sign including the GDD defined by the unique code with respect to the graphic information displayed on the sign, performs safe driving of the vehicle, and transmits the information on the recognized road traffic sign to the rear vehicle. At this time, the road traffic sign information information transmitter 200 compares the GPS information installed in the road traffic signs or the preceding traffic information and the GPS information confirmed by the own vehicle, The distance information to the road traffic sign is confirmed and the driver or the autonomous vehicle recognizes the distance information to perform safe operation. When the information about the road traffic sign is transmitted to the vehicle at the rear, Information is coded with GDD information and propagated.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the present invention can be applied to a road traffic sign information propagator 200 in which blinking of LEDs arranged in a graphic portion of a road traffic sign (i.e., a cross-shaped intersection, a T-shaped intersection, , Recognizes the light of a graphic portion displayed on a road traffic sign made of an LED display, or detects a light propagated through a direction indicator lamp, an LED or the like, such as a brake provided at the rear of a preceding automobile. Then, it analyzes the sensed information and directly recognizes the graphic information of the road traffic sign or recognizes the GPS information and the GDD information of the road traffic sign to confirm which road traffic sign is the information. Further, it encodes and modulates the information on the verified road traffic sign (i.e., GPS information and GDD information of the traffic sign) and transmits it to another vehicle following the rear through a direction indicator lamp, LED, etc., Propagate cover information.

To this end, in the present invention, an LED-based road traffic sign information propagator 200 to which a visible light communication method including LiFi / OCC / VLC is applied is provided to an automobile including an autonomous vehicle.

The road traffic sign information propagator 200 transmits the information about the road traffic sign transmitted through the light of the LED in the road traffic sign information transmitter 200 provided in the road traffic sign information transmitter 100 or another automobile Recognizes the information on the road traffic sign, confirms the road situation ahead of the general vehicle driver or the autonomous vehicle based on the information on the recognized road traffic sign, and displays the traffic sign information The GPS information and the GDD information of the mobile terminal are encoded and modulated so as to propagate to the rear vehicle. At this time, the road traffic sign information information transmitter 200 can recognize the road traffic sign information by directly recognizing the graphic portion visually displayed on the road traffic sign, as well as receiving and confirming the GDD information transmitted wirelessly.

That is, the road traffic sign information propagator 200 includes an OCC camera, and the road traffic sign information propagator 200 provided in the road traffic sign information transmitter 100 or other vehicles through the OCC camera transmits And decodes the GDD data and the GPS information of the traffic sign, which is defined as a unique code for the graphic information displayed on the road traffic sign. As described above, when the GDD data is acquired in the road traffic sign information propagator 200, it is possible to recognize which road traffic sign information is based on the information defined in the GDD data. Also, the road traffic sign information propagator 200 can confirm the distance information from the own vehicle to the road traffic sign based on the comparison between the GPS information of the traffic sign and the GPS information confirmed by the own vehicle. Further, the road traffic sign information propagator 200 encodes and modulates information on the recognized road traffic sign (i.e., GDD data and GPS information of the traffic sign) and transmits it to another vehicle, Provide information on road traffic signs.

Herein, the present invention will be described by taking an example of using a visible light communication method including LiFi / OCC / VLC when receiving and recognizing information on a road traffic sign displayed on a road traffic sign by converting it into a wireless signal and propagating it However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and any other type of communication method currently used may be used. For example, in the process of propagating the information on the road traffic sign through the LiFi / OCC / VLC in the road traffic sign information propagator 200 provided in each automobile, if bad weather such as fog, rain, snow, In order to prevent the information of the road traffic sign from being transmitted correctly, it is possible to use the wireless communication such as 5G, WiFi, LTE or the like as an invisible communication means, such as ultrasonic wave or infrared communication, can do.

The road traffic sign information propagator 200 encodes GDD data defined as graphic data of the road traffic sign and GPS information of the traffic sign to propagate the road traffic sign information displayed on the road traffic sign to another vehicle, The encoded information of the road traffic sign is converted into a LiFi / OCC / VLC signal and propagated to a vehicle traveling around the vehicle through a brake provided at the rear of the vehicle, a direction indicator lamp, an LED or the like. In other words, it is to wirelessly transmit information about the road traffic sign to the surrounding vehicles through the OCC. The OCC is a type of optical communication using omnidirectional visible light, infrared rays or ultraviolet rays for signal transmission. The OID information transmitter 200 transmits the GDD defined in advance as graphic data and the GPS Information on the road traffic sign encoded based on the information can be simply processed by using the most commonly known on-off keying method when wirelessly transmitting information via the OCC. In addition to the on-off keying method, a variety of currently known methods may be applied.

As described above, when the information on the road traffic sign propagated by the LiFi / OCC / VLC of the present invention is recognized by each vehicle, the information on the road traffic sign is conventionally transmitted much earlier than the place where the road traffic sign is installed It is possible to carry out safe operation of the autonomous vehicle as well as the driver of the general vehicle through prior confirmation of the road situation ahead.

The road traffic sign information propagator 200 may be added to or newly installed in a conventional camera system provided in a vehicle, and may include an OCC camera (camera receiver) including an image sensor and the road traffic sign information A configuration for decoding a signal received from the transmitter 100 or another road traffic sign information propagator 200 and a configuration for propagating the road traffic sign information to another vehicle. At this time, the road traffic sign information information transmitter 200 recognizes the road traffic sign information by directly recognizing the graphic portion visually displayed on the road traffic signboard and uses the information for the vehicle operation, The information can be converted into a radio signal and propagated to other vehicles.

The road traffic sign information propagator 200 recognizes that the road traffic sign information transmitter 200 visually displays the road traffic sign information or receives the wireless signal transmitted from the road traffic sign information transmitter 100 or another automobile and transmits the GDD information and the road traffic sign Information on the recognized road traffic sign is displayed on a navigation device or a display device provided in the vehicle or outputted as voice information through a speaker so that the driver can understand the graphic information of the road traffic sign and the road traffic sign At the same time, encodes and modulates the information on the recognized road traffic sign, and propagates it to another automobile following the rear.

The road traffic sign information propagator 200 provides information on the recognized road traffic sign to a central processing unit that manages the operation of the vehicle when the automobile is an autonomous vehicle, And at the same time, encodes and modulates the information on the recognized road traffic sign and propagates it to another vehicle following the rear.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the configuration of the road traffic sign information propagator of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a road direction display defined in the GDD used in the present invention, and FIG. Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining the recognition and display of road traffic sign information and the radio wave processing process.

3, the road traffic sign information propagator 200 includes an information receiving unit 210, an information recognizing unit 220, a storage unit 230, an information output unit 240, an image recognizing unit 250 An image estimating unit 260, an information converting unit 270, an information transmitting unit 280, a GPS processing unit 285, a control unit 290, and the like. Although not shown in the drawing, a power source for supplying power to be used in the road traffic sign information transmitter 200 and an input unit for setting the operation of the traffic traffic sign information transmitter 200 may be additionally provided .

The information receiving unit 210 receives road traffic sign information from a road traffic sign board installed in the vicinity of the road or another automobile traveling in front of the road. That is, the information receiver 210 receives the information about the road traffic sign transmitted through the OCC from the road traffic sign information transmitter 100 added to the road traffic signboard or the road traffic mark information propagator 200 provided in the preceding vehicle .

At this time, the information receiving unit 210 photographs a graphical portion displayed visually according to blinking of the LED light source on the road traffic sign, or displays the road traffic sign information transmitter (100) 200 may be a camera receiver including an image sensor for photographing a wireless signal for modulating GDD information defining a road traffic sign and GPS information of a road traffic sign by light of an LED light source through a blinking light.

For example, the information receiving unit 210 may transmit light emitted from the road traffic sign board or a road traffic sign information transmitter 200 provided in another vehicle through a camera image sensor at a predetermined frame rate ), And generates a moving image composed of a plurality of still images (i.e., frames) and provides the moving image to the information recognizing unit 220, thereby recognizing the visual display on the road traffic sign or based on the GDD propagated from another car To identify the defined cross-country traffic sign and the GPS information of the road traffic sign.

The information recognition unit 220 analyzes the road traffic sign information related to the traffic information of the corresponding road received by the information receiving unit 210 to recognize which road traffic sign information is included.

For example, the information recognition unit 220 decodes the video information received from the information receiving unit 210 (i.e., the video including a plurality of frames) to extract GDD information included in the video information and GPS information of the road traffic sign And refers to the GDD information stored in the storage unit 230 to analyze which road traffic sign information the extracted GDD information is.

The storage unit 230 stores various operation programs used for reception, recognition and propagation of the road traffic sign information propagated from the road traffic signs or other vehicles at the road traffic sign information propagator 200, Are defined as graphic data, and GDD information constituted by these are stored and managed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the GDD information stored in the storage unit 230 includes graphic portions such as a straight line, a straight line, a left turn, a straight line, a right turn, and the like, And the like, and is information that defines information on all kinds of road traffic signs. In addition, the GDD information may include specific section information of a road affecting a road traffic sign, a start point, a length, an end point of a road, or a combination thereof.

The storage unit 230 stores the information on the road traffic sign received from the road traffic signs or other vehicles by the information converting unit 270 in response to an encoding operation And provides GDD data on the graphic portion of the road traffic sign to the information converter 270.

Also, when the GDD information related to various road traffic signs is newly added or changed, the storage unit 230 can receive and update GDD information newly added or changed from the server managing the GDD information.

The information output unit 240 outputs information on the road traffic sign recognized by the information recognizing unit 220 (that is, the graphical display portion of the road traffic sign or the distance information to the road traffic sign) Graphic data is output to the device and visually guided, or converted into a voice signal, output through a speaker or the like, and confirmed by the vehicle driver.

When the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, the information output unit 240 provides information on the road traffic sign recognized by the information recognition unit 220 to a central processing unit that manages the operation of the vehicle, To be able to carry out safe operation in accordance with the present invention.

The image recognizing unit 250 recognizes a crossing intersection, a T intersection, a left intersection, a left intersection, and a left intersection based on image information obtained by photographing a graphic portion visually displayed in accordance with the blinking of the LED light source disposed in the graphic portion of the road traffic sign at the information receiving unit 210. [ A specific form of the road traffic sign such as a confluence road, a double curved road, a slippery road, etc. is extracted as an image to recognize information about the road traffic sign.

When the image recognition unit 260 extracts an area corresponding to the graphic portion of the road traffic sign from the image recognition unit 250, the image estimation unit 260 generates a display error of the road traffic sign, If a part of the graphic portion of the road traffic sign is not recognized due to an error, the GDD information stored in the storage unit 230 is referred to and the nearest to the image recognized by the image recognition unit 250 The GDD information, and estimates the GDD information as the area for the graphic portion of the road traffic sign.

Here, the image recognition unit 250 and the image estimation unit 260 are used when directly recognizing graphic information displayed on the road traffic signboard, and when the information about the road traffic sign is propagated from another vehicle, it is not used .

When the information recognition unit 220 confirms the road traffic sign information or the road traffic sign information propagated from the automobile ahead of the information recognition unit 220, the information conversion unit 270 transmits information on the verified road traffic sign to the car The GDD information on the road traffic sign confirmed by the information recognition unit 220 is extracted from the storage unit 230 to generate encoded information for the road traffic sign together with the GPS information of the road traffic sign, And outputs information on the road traffic sign to the information transmission unit 280.

The information transmission unit 280 includes communication means such as LiFi / OCC / VLC in visible light communication, and includes non-visible communication means such as 5G, WiFi, and LTE, and infrared communication and ultrasound communication.

The information transmitting unit 280 converts the information about the road traffic sign encoded by the information converting unit 270 into a radio signal and transmits the radio signal to a vehicle located behind.

For example, the information transmitting unit 280 may transmit the road traffic sign information received from the preceding road traffic sign or the preceding vehicle to the information converting unit 270 ) Is modulated by a visible light communication method including LiFi / OCC / VLC and transmitted through an LED light source. At this time, the information transmitting unit 280 transmits the road traffic sign information propagated to the rear vehicle based on the control of the controller 290, by means of wireless communication (5G, WiFi, LTE, etc.) And so on.

Also, the information transmission unit 280 can prioritize the traffic information according to the usage environment, propagate the road traffic sign information through any one of the means, and can duplicate or triple the means for propagating the road traffic sign information. In this case, the redundant or triplicated structure uses a plurality of means such as visible light communication, wireless communication, infrared light, and ultrasonic communication. When a plurality of communication means are simultaneously used, the information on the traffic sign information is urgent or important And it is possible to reduce the error of the road traffic sign information propagated through it.

The GPS processing unit 285 compares the GPS information installed with the road traffic sign confirmed from the information transmitted from the road traffic sign or the preceding vehicle by the information recognition unit 220 to the GPS information confirmed by the own vehicle, The distance information from the own vehicle to the road traffic sign is confirmed and the result is provided through the information output unit 240 so that the driver or the autonomous vehicle can perform the safe operation.

The controller 290 collectively controls various functions performed by the road traffic sign information propagator 200. The controller 290 receives the road traffic sign information transmitted from the road traffic signboard or other vehicles in the information receiver 210, And controls the reception of the radio signal reception information and the recognition of the road traffic sign information in the information recognition unit 220 and is used for reception, recognition and propagation of the road traffic sign information in the storage unit 230 And the road traffic sign are defined as graphic data, and the storage and update management of the GDD information constituted by these are controlled.

The control unit 290 controls the output of the information on the road traffic sign on the information output unit 240 and the graphic sign on the road traffic sign in the image recognition unit 250, And controls the estimation of the graphic portion based on the previously stored GDD information when a portion of the graphic portion of the road traffic sign in the image estimator 260 is not recognized .

Also, the controller 290 controls the GDD data related to the traffic information of the road traffic signs for the propagation of the road traffic sign information received from the road traffic signboard in the information converter 270 or the vehicle ahead, Controls the encoding of information and controls the modulation and transmission of visible or invisible signals of road traffic sign information to be propagated to the automobile behind the information transmitting unit 280. In the GPS processing unit 285, Controls the comparison, identification and output of distance information between the vehicle and the road traffic sign.

Meanwhile, the control unit 290 may receive information received from a road traffic sign or a car in front of the vehicle through an information receiving unit 210, an image recognizing unit 250, a wireless communication unit (not shown) of a wired / wireless communication unit The results can be matched and picked up selectively. For example, when receiving important and urgent signals that require duplication or tripling, it allows double or triple reception of visible and invisible signals. That is, when a plurality of road traffic sign information is received as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the controller 290 checks consistency of recognition results of the received plurality of road traffic sign information, And performing overall control so as to perform a road traffic sign information recognition and display mechanism for determining traffic sign information. When the road traffic sign information is inputted through a plurality of routes, it is necessary to check whether the road traffic sign information is consistent or not, and what information is reliable. Such a mechanism is provided in the present invention.

Also, when the controller 290 propagates the road traffic sign information received and confirmed from the road traffic signboard or the automobile ahead of the vehicle to the rear vehicle, if the traffic signal is an important and urgent signal requiring duplication or tripling, Can be controlled to be propagated through redundancy or tripletization. That is, as shown in FIG. 5B, the controller 290 determines the importance and priority of the road traffic sign information currently displayed on the own vehicle, and based on the information, the controller 290 encodes and modulates the road traffic sign information using the GDD information And then to perform a mechanism of propagating to a rear vehicle through a transmission means such as single / dual / triple.

Next, an embodiment of the road traffic sign information propagation method according to the present invention constructed as above will be described in detail with reference to FIG. At this time, each step according to the method of the present invention may be changed in the use environment or the order by a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 6 is a detailed flowchart illustrating a road traffic sign information propagation process according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

First, the road traffic sign of the road traffic sign installed in the vicinity of the road is defined as graphic data and the GDD information constituted by the dictionary is stored, and the road traffic sign information propagator 200 The GDD data defined for the road traffic sign information encoded from the road traffic sign information transmitter 100 provided in the road traffic sign located at the front and the GPS information of the road traffic sign may be displayed, (Light source blinking, wireless communication, infrared rays, ultrasonic waves, etc.), or captures (scans) an image of a road traffic sign to obtain an image (S100). Alternatively, the road traffic sign information transmitter 200 receives the GDD data defined for the road traffic sign information encoded from the automobile located in front of the road traffic sign information transmitter 200 through a communication method including visible, invisible, or a combination thereof.

For example, when the visible light communication method is used, light emitted from an LED disposed in a graphic portion of a road traffic sign, a brake provided at a rear end of a preceding vehicle, a direction indicator lamp, When a road traffic sign image is captured and an image is acquired, the graphic portion of the road traffic sign is obtained from the image captured by the camera.

The road traffic sign information propagator 200 receiving the information on the road traffic sign from the road traffic sign or the car in the front side through the step S100 receives the received visible or invisible signal or the road traffic sign And recognizes the graphic content displayed on the road traffic sign (S200).

For example, when a visible light signal is received from a road traffic sign or a vehicle ahead through a camera, the road traffic sign information information transmitter 200 decodes the received visible light signal and generates GDD data And GPS information of the road traffic sign, extracts the GDD data from the road traffic sign, matches the GDD data with the previously stored GDD information to check which road traffic sign is the GPS information of the extracted road traffic sign, Compare the distance to your vehicle and the traffic sign. In addition, the road traffic sign information propagator 200 that has acquired the image by photographing the road traffic sign image recognizes the graphic portion from the obtained image, and matches the recognized result with the GDD data, Identify and determine road traffic sign information on the basis.

The road traffic sign information propagator 200 then transmits the road traffic sign information (i.e., the graphical information displayed on the road traffic sign, the distance to the road traffic sign, etc.) recognized in step S200 to a navigation device or a display device Or by a voice signal through a speaker to be checked by a general driver of the vehicle or to provide a central processing unit for managing the traffic of an automobile in case of an autonomous vehicle so as to promptly and accurately Thereby making it possible to perform safe driving in accordance with the road conditions ahead (S300).

Meanwhile, in step S300, the road traffic sign information transmitter 200 receives and verifies the road traffic sign information received from the road traffic signboard or the vehicle ahead, and the road traffic sign information transmitter 200 transmits the road traffic sign information to the following vehicle The GDD data defined for the graphic displayed on the road traffic sign is extracted from the storage unit 230 and the GDD information is encoded in operation S400. That is, encoding GDD data defined with unique graphic information and code values for a specific road traffic sign. At this time, the road traffic sign information propagator 200 encodes the GPS information of the road traffic sign received from the road traffic signboard or the preceding vehicle together with the GDD data.

Then, the road traffic sign information transmitter 200 modulates the GDD data of the specific road traffic sign encoded in step S400 and the GPS information of the road traffic sign as visible or invisible signals (step S500), and the controller 290 (S600) according to the control of the control unit (not shown).

As described above, in the present invention, a road traffic sign is installed at each position of a road on the basis of GDD that defines information about a road traffic sign, and a road sign such as a road traffic sign or an automobile from an automobile including an autonomous- The vehicle on the rear side can confirm the road situation in front of the vehicle, and the vehicle arriving at the road traffic sign will suddenly recognize the road traffic sign information, It is possible to prevent the driver from quickly responding to a change in the road condition.

In addition, it is possible to recognize information on road traffic signage far before the position where the road traffic signboard is installed in a vehicle that runs on the road, and it is possible to recognize more information on the road traffic signboard It is possible to prevent the occurrence of safety accidents due to sudden operation of the vehicle running on the road.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It is understandable. Accordingly, the technical scope of the present invention should be determined by the following claims.

100: road traffic sign information transmitter 200: road traffic sign information information transmitter
210: information receiving unit 220:
230: storage unit 240: information output unit
250: image recognition unit 260: image estimation unit
270: Information Converting Unit 280: Information Transmitting Unit
285: GPS processing unit 290:

Claims (10)

An information receiving unit installed in the vehicle for receiving or obtaining the road traffic sign information from the road traffic sign; And
And an information transmission unit for transmitting the road traffic sign information to another vehicle,
Wherein the road traffic sign information is expanded more than the range provided by the road traffic sign. The method according to claim 1,
To transmit the road traffic sign information,
Wherein the traffic information is transmitted through an OCC (Optical Camera Communication). The method according to claim 1,
Wherein,
And the road traffic sign information defined on the basis of a GDD (Graphic Data Dictionary) is transmitted to another vehicle. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the information receiver comprises:
Further comprising receiving the road traffic sign information transmitted from another vehicle. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > 11. < / RTI > The method of claim 4,
Wherein the information receiver comprises:
And a camera receiver including an image sensor for photographing and receiving the road traffic sign information transmitted from the road traffic sign board or another automobile. An information receiving step of receiving or acquiring road traffic sign information from a road traffic sign in a road traffic sign information propagator installed in a vehicle; And
And an information transmission step of transmitting the road traffic sign information to another vehicle,
Wherein the road traffic sign information is expanded more than the range provided by the road traffic sign. The method of claim 6,
To transmit the road traffic sign information,
OCC. ≪ / RTI > The method of claim 6,
The information transmission step includes:
And the road traffic sign information defined on the basis of the GDD is transmitted to another vehicle. The method of claim 6,
The information receiving step includes:
Further comprising receiving the road traffic sign information transmitted from another vehicle. The method of claim 9,
The information receiving step includes:
Wherein the road traffic sign information transmitted from the road traffic sign or another vehicle is photographed and received through a camera receiver including an image sensor.

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