WO1983001698A1

WO1983001698A1 - Calling installation for public transport on request by modification of the route

Info

Publication number: WO1983001698A1
Application number: PCT/FR1982/000176
Authority: WO
Inventors: M A Technique G
Original assignee: MELTZ, Philippe, André; DUPONT, Gérard
Priority date: 1981-10-29
Filing date: 1982-10-29
Publication date: 1983-05-11
Also published as: FR2515846B1; EP0092561A1; FR2515846A1

Abstract

A call terminal (BA) allows, upon inserting a special user's card, to effect the deviation from normal route of a bus which will then follow, besides a normal drive (TN), a deviated drive (TD). The telephone connection is provided by a central station (SD) where an operator is connected by radiotelephony to the buses, or by a box (CD) provided at the vicinity of the deviation point.

Description

CALL FACILITY FOR COLLECTIVE TRANSPORT ON DEMAND BY MODIFYING ROUTE

The invention relates to public transport using autonomous vehicles such as buses or coaches.

These vehicles, which we will all refer to hereinafter as buses, operate on regular lines, the USA of which knows, in principle, the route and the timetables (days, hours and minutes) of passage at each point of the route. a very low load factor, the lines cannot systematically serve geographic areas with low density of potential users.

In an attempt to resolve this problem, a call facility has already been proposed for diverting on demand independent means of transport such as buses, in which a terminal for calling by the user, located on the diversion route, is capable of cooperating, via a transmission such as a telephone link, with a remote station capable of issuing a diversion order to a bus, while the call terminal comprises a, user interface and a relay assembly, responsible for transmitting the request to the remote station and for notifying the user of the action taken on this request.

The call terminals proposed so far suffer from several drawbacks:

- carrying out the basic functions required, even by simplifying them as much as possible, requires a large volume of equipment;

- correlatively, these devices pose borderline power supply problems, knowing that their power supply is most often drawn from public lighting through a buffer battery, and that the volume required by the buffer battery intervenes in turn in such a way not negligible; - in addition, on the call terminal, the interface with the user (bus call, and display of the sequence given) must be both sufficiently developed to exactly meet the needs of isolated, episodic customers, and not necessarily informed, while avoiding any risk of accidental or deliberate disturbances, which could go as far as vandalism.

Again, to protect the equipment, a volume and access as small as possible are desirable, along with a display that is both simple, efficient, and energy efficient.

The present invention offers an advantageous solution to the overall problem defined by the above drawbacks, which interact with one another. According to a first characteristic of the invention, the user interface comprises, in addition to a call card reader, an alphanumeric display device, the relay assembly comprises, connected to this interface, means of * coded telephone intercommunication, as well as a data processing device, comprising at least one processing unit with an operations memory and a data memory, the data memory is arranged to contain at least one set of information schedules linked to the normal time of passage of the bus at the possible diversion point, the operations memory contains logical states capable of being maintained in the data processing device on the one hand of the real-time information, on the other hand, a cycle of call operations starting on the introduction of a calling card by a user, and comprising at least:

- the search for the next possible diversion schedule,

- the search for a telephone link to the remote station in order to request a diversion order, and

- on positive response, the display of the time spent at the terminal, obtained by adding a journey time predate ine until the terminal at the time of the selected schedule, as well as the memorization of the order of unwinding obtained, so that a subsequent start of the cycle of operations may result in the immediate display of the transit time at the terminal, without the need for a telephone connection, while in addition, the rerouting memory is erased at the instant of actual or planned passage from the bus to the call terminal. In a very advantageous embodiment, the data processing device comprises a microprocessor suitable for interruptions, the interruptions serving for the maintenance of real time information, while the call operation cycle is the normal cycle monitored by the microprocessor.

According to another important aspect of the invention, the deletion of the rerouting memory takes place in the context of. ^{Interruptions} for maintenance of real time. Preferably, the data memory includes several sets of time information, and the call operation cycle responds to the current day of the week by selecting one of these time information sets. In a particular embodiment, each set of time information is accessible by index, and the call operation cycle includes the determination of a current time index.

According to an important aspect of the invention, the main operation cycle responds to a first introduction of the card by displaying the schedule of the next possible passage from the bus to the terminal, then to a second introduction of the card by initiating the process. phone call.

According to another aspect of the invention, the cycle of call operations begins with a supply of the alphanumeric display on insertion of the calling card and ends with a extinction of the display. According to another characteristic of the invention ^τ, maintenance of real time further comprises tion détermina¬ another time index, from a time delayed substantially from the time path diversion to the terminal, and the comparison of this other hourly index with the previously mentioned hourly index, which makes it possible to estimate whether a diverted bus has arrived at the call terminal.

In a particular embodiment, each information ^for schedule comprises two posi¬ tions of successive index, hours and minutes.

In an interesting category of applications, the processing device comprises means for producing a first telephone call representative of a diversion request, and a second telephone call, representative of the diversion carried out.

Very advantageously, the processing device is arranged to repeat the second telephone call, when the telephone connection has not been obtained.

In practice, the call terminal can work, in particular:

- on a private or public telephone line, ^" with a general switchboard from the bus network, permanently connected by radiotelephone to all buses;

- a similar operation can be obtained by equipping the buses with a EUROSIGNAL receiver, which the call terminal requests by telephone, (10-digit number);

- box with single indicator light, called directly by the call terminals of a corresponding diversion path;

- infrared transmission box to the bus, each bus being equipped with an infrared transceiver, as is each call terminal, which facilitates the production and cancellation of the diversion order. Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear in the detailed description which follows, as well as in the appended drawings, in which: - Figure 1 very schematically illustrates an example of a bus route capable of implementation of the invention;

- Figure 2A illustrates the electrical circuit diagram of an embodiment of call terminal intended to ^' cooperate with a switchboard;

- Figure 2B illustrates the electrical diagram of the standard that can cooperate with the call terminal of Figure 2A;

- Figure 3A illustrates the electrical schematic diagram of a variant of call terminal intended to cooperate with a box having an infrared link with the bus, as well as to receive the information of passage of the bus at the level from the infra-red call terminal;

- Figure 3B illustrates the schematic electrical diagram of the infrared link cabinet;

FIG. 3C illustrates the basic electrical diagram of the infrared transmission-reception link on board the bus;

- Figure 4 schematically illustrates a schedule memory filling table;

- Figure 5 illustrates in the form of a flowchart the main operation cycle followed by the microprocessor incorporated in the call terminal; .

- Figure 5A to 5C illustrate details of the flowchart of Figure 5;

- Figure 6 illustrates the flow diagram of an internal time interruption, followed by the microprocessor;

- Figure 6A illustrates a detail of the flow diagram of Figure 6; - Figure 7 illustrates the research flowchart of the current day;

- Figure 8 illustrates the hourly index search flowchart; and - Figure 9 illustrates the priority external interrupt flowchart "presence of the bus at the terminal". In Figure 1, a bus should follow a normal line, designated by TN (normal and normal). It is assumed here by way of nonlimiting example that the diverted path denoted TD (and illustrated in phantom) begins at the terminus of the normal path TN. One or more call terminals BA are located at various points on the tra and diverted TD. As we will see below, each call terminal will communicate with a "remote station", which is: - either an SD switchboard, where an operator is connected by radiotelephone to the buses,

- or a CD diversion box, placed in the vicinity of the terminus, to transmit to the driver of the bus the order to follow the diverted route. FIG. 2A illustrates an embodiment of call terminal BA in the case of connection with a telephone standard. A two-wire telephone line L, and L- can be connected by two contacts 11 and 12, under the control of a line-taking device 10, to an input constituted by a keyboard, decimal 13, followed by a translator 15. a predetermined call number can be dialed from the numeric keypad 13 under the control of a device 14. This remote station call number (standard here) is indeed known to ^"advance common to all call terminals relating to the same bus line, or even to an entire network, in the present case of a switchboard.

At the output of the translator 15, a capacitive link 16 goes to a reception amplifier 18, followed in parallel by four detection circuits 21

^C '- ^: __ \ / s, V * -0 at 24, operating respectively at 440, 330, 550 and 710 Hz.

When the device 10 has taken the line, the detection circuits 21 or 22 indicate whether the line is free, and, in this case, control by the gate 20 the triggering of the predetermined call number in the circuit 14. The link with the remote station

(here the standard) is then obtained. The two other detection circuits 23 and 24 will then enter into function, one (23) to deliver switchboard information online, and the other (24) to subsequently indicate on line 37 that the call is recorded , via a timing circuit 36, fixed for example at 1 second. In response to standard online information (circuit 23), the call station identifies itself. To this end, five generator circuits

25 to 29 are planned, operating on 900, 1170 respectively,

1520, 1980 and 2570 Hz. Programming by open or closed contacts makes it possible to choose any one of the combinations of these five frequencies to apply it to an adjustable gain transmission amplifier 19, followed by a filter 19A and d 'a capacitive link 17 towards the translation 15.

On the other hand, the introduction of a card

• user is detected by a body not shown, which produces a corresponding signal on a line 35 leading to a microprocessor 30, in control link with the alphanumeric display 40. The microprocessor 30 also receives on a line 45 reserved for the maintenance of information which allows the time reset of its internal clock, for example for the transition from winter time to summer time. As will be seen in more detail below, the microprocessor 30 produces on line 34 a "Start" or "Start" command, which actuates the line pickup device. This results in search of a bond, then detection by ^'return signals. The first signal -S'¬

in return, - at 550 Hz, produces the return on the line of the frequency combination representative of the call terminal concerned. After which, when the operator has carried out the necessary interventions, she will return a frequency of 710 Hz representative of the fact that a diversion order has been given to the bus. In response, after a time delay of 1 second in circuit 36, line 37 returns a call signal recorded to microprocessor 30. Otherwise, after a time delay of 80 seconds (here), given by the circuit

31, from the “Start” signal, line 33 transmits unregistered call information to the microprocessor 30. By either of the unregistered call or recorded call signals, an OR gate 32 activates device 10 to control the hanging up of the telephone line. It can be seen in particular that this arrangement makes it possible a priori to reduce the use of the telephone line as much as possible.

In FIG. 2B, the general structure of the telephone circuits is fairly ^* . similar, here being a standard with operator. The two line wires L, and L ~ are connected by switches 61 and 62 under the control of a line-taking device 60 to a translator 65. This translator is connected by a capacitive link 66 to a reception amplifier 68 followed by four detection circuits 75 to 79 (.phase locking loops) corresponding to the frequencies of the generator circuits 25 to 29 in FIG. 1A. This is followed by an interdepartmental decoding device 80, which deduces therefrom the number assigned to the call terminal, and displays it on the large format displays 90 intended for the operator. After having identified the call terminal, the operator transmits the routing order, by permanent radiotelephone link (sché¬ matized by antenna 95), to the driver of the bus to be routed. At the same time, or previously, the operator

-i -S ^'¬

actuates a device 91 consisting for example of an acknowledgment push-button, which excites the generator 74 at 710 Hz, this signal being transmitted by the emission amplifier 69 with adjustable gain and the filter 69A to the capacitive link 67 to the translator 65, to represent the recorded call. All this happens in less than 30 seconds of telephone connection.

Initially, for line seizure, the device 63 is connected to the terminals of the lines L and L upstream of the contacts 61 and 62 in order to detect the ringing pulses, while a device 64 counts these pulses of the bell. At the first buzzer, a 30 second delay defined by circuit 64A is activated, while the third buzzer activates the line seizure device 60, at the same time as the generator 73 at 550 Hz, which indicates to the call terminal that the link is established, this signal being naturally applied to the transmission amplifier 69 and to the circuits which follow it. From a time delay of 30 seconds after the first ring, the device 64A acts on the OR gate 87 in order to produce the hanging up of the telephone line 60. Normally, the recorded call signal has been defined by the generator 74 previously. Anyway, with a time delay defined by the circuit 86 with respect to the acknowledgment signal defined by the operator, the OR gate 87 will in turn in any case produce the hang up of the telephone line through the device 60. The output of the OR gate 87 also resets the counter 64 to zero. We will now describe with reference to the figures

3A to 3C a variant in which the derou¬ tement control is defined for the bus driver by an infrared transmission box cooperating with a transceiver mounted on the bus (FIG. 3C). The elements of FIGS. 2A and 2B which are kept will not be described again and bear the same references. In this variant, the communication between the call terminal and the cabinet is simpler: all the call terminals of the same diverted path communicate in principle with the same cabinet, to which they naturally give the same order. of diversion. Consequently, instead of sending a frequency code identifying the call terminal, FIG. 3A only carries two generators 27 and 25 at 900 and 1520 Hz respectively. When the box is online (output from 23 ), the generator 25 is controlled through an AND gate 38 receiving a user card presence signal, or else the generator 27 is controlled through an AND gate 39 receiving a STOP signal (after passing from the bus to the terminal) , this passage being able to be detected physically (or by variation calculated by the microprocessor 30 from a scheduled time). At the bottom right of FIG. 3A, there will be circuits 50 of infrared emission modulated at 380 Hz, and 55 of infrared reception modulated at 500 Hz, these circuits being intended to monitor the arrival of the bus at the terminal. call. When the reception circuit 55 indicates this arrival, the generator is excited at 1520 Hz through the AND gate 39. At the same time, the signal of "bus present at the terminal" (line 56) is transmitted to the microprocessor 30, for purposes which will be detailed later, and which include the production of the STOP signal, in order to produce a new call to the box for the extinction of its own infrared transmission. Finally, the output of circuit 23 ("online" cabinet) is also transmitted to microprocessor 30, for the correct implementation of telephone calls, in particular the call requesting the extinction of the cabinet. The rest of the device of FIG. 3A is like FIG. 2A, except that the time delay ——

° -li¬

in 31 is only 60 seconds, the telephone link being in principle obtained more quickly.

In FIG. 3B, the cabinet is also simplified compared to the standard circuits of FIG. 2B.

Naturally, only the two frequencies emitted by the terminal, namely 900 Hz and 1520 Hz, are detected in circuits 75 and 77. The detection at 75 produces on a device 88 the excitation of a modulated infrared transmitter at 220 Hz and oriented towards the ^* bus passage lane, while the detection in 1520 Hz, - representative of the passage from the bus to the terminal, will be able to control by a circuit 77 the extinction of this infra¬ emission red. The two pieces of information are brought together by an OR gate 85A, the output of which goes to a generator 74 at 710 Hz, in order to send back through the emission amplifier 69 the information that the order of infrared emission or of ex ¬ infrared switching off has been performed. (recorded call). Then, the time delay 86 ′ will in any case produce a hang-up of the line, whether it is either an initial call coming from the fact that one wishes to light the infrared emission, or the subsequent call commanding the extinction of this same program. The left-hand part of FIG. 3B, which corresponds to a kind of acknowledgment of line seizure, is similar to that of FIG. 2B. .

FIG. 3C shows the very simple structure of the infrared bus transceiver, which includes an infrared receiver member at 91, followed by two modulation detection circuits 92 and 93 at 380 and 220 Hz respectively. by the circuit .93 of the detection at 220 Hz activates the -discontinuous- start-up of the infrared transmitter circuit modulated at 500 Hz, while the detection at 380 Hz stops this same transmitter circuit. Finally, when the transmitter circuit is in operation, are also activated for the driver a flashing device 95 and a buzzer 96 preferably arranged on the dashboard.

The operation is then as follows: - on a first telephone call from one of the call terminals (FIG. 3A), the emission of the CD box (FIG. 3B) is triggered, modulated at 220 Hz;

- the first bus arriving receives this emission and then emits infrared with a different modulation at 500 Hz, this discontinuously;

- when going to the call terminal, it detects the "bus" modulation at 500 Hz, and, by a new telephone call, cancels the infrared emission from the box; at the same time, the transmission of the 380 Hz modula- tion infrared call station stops the infrared transmission from the bus, and thereby the flashing and the buzzer. In a further simplified variant, the infrared emission of the box is replaced by a simple indicator light. The bus does not need any team. ment, and the infrared transmission-reception of the call terminal is deleted, or replaced by a detection of bus passage of another kind (push button, or detection by radar or buried loop for example). As previously indicated, the presence of the bus at the terminal can not only be detected, but also predicted by the microprocessor 30 from the normal times.

Reference will now be made to FIG. 4, which schematically illustrates the content of a data memory or memory of time tables MTH, subdivided here by three tables * MTH1, MTH2 and MTH3. Each table is accessible by an index susceptible of incrementation, the index being able to be positioned at the beginning of each table at will. Each table includes, in order, on a first index position, the hours, then on a second minute index position, for each bus passage at the diversion point, the passages being arranged in chronological order, and followed by end of service information at the position of hourly index following the last normal pass. Suppose, for example, that table 1 corresponds to ordinary days, table 2 to specific days such as Wednesday or Saturday (where, for example, schoolchildren will not normally travel), while finally the table 3 corresponds to the Sunday timetable, this arrangement of the tables naturally being only a non-limiting example.

On examining FIGS. 2 and 3, it appears that the various telephone interactions between the call terminal and the remote station (standard or cabinet) are carried out at the hardware level. On the other hand, all of the control functions of the call terminal are provided by the microprocessor 30, essentially interacting between the detection of the customer card 35 and the alphanumeric display 40. The microprocessor advantageously includes in its own memory the time tables illustrated in FIG. 4.

And this microprocessor will follow as a normal operating cycle, or main program, the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 5.

This flowchart begins with a reset step 200, to which we will only return on special order for maintenance purposes, as well as in other circumstances well known to those skilled in the art.

This step 200 is followed by an initialization step 201 which will not be detailed here, as regards simple operations such as resetting the time of the microprocessor, in particular. Next comes a test 202 which determines whether the 'BUS A LA BORNE' flag is set. For the yes answer, we go to the set of steps 450, called APPEL TELEPHONI¬ QUE STOP, and illustrated in FIG. 5B. After that, and in the case where the answer to test 202 is no, we pass to the following test 203 which determines if a user card is present. If not, we go to this step 203. If yes, step 204 feeds the alphanumeric display 40. Then, a test 205 determines if a ^r BUS CALLED 'is already in memory (we will see below how). If yes, jump directly to step 287.

If not, a telephone connection should be made to call a bus. This begins with a step 210 which determines the current day, in detail in the subroutine of FIG. 7, and which will now be described.

In this figure 7, after the start 211 _r the first. step consists in positioning the hourly index on the beginning of the first table MTH1 of FIG. 4.

If the current day is a Sunday, test 213 will position the index on the start of the third table using step 214, and the other tests being in principle negative, we will go through these on the return 219. Otherwise, it is determined in tests 215 and 217 whether the day is a day X or a day Y, for example a Wednesday or a Saturday, in which case the index will be positioned by steps 216 and 218 on the start of the second table. When the current day is neither a Sunday nor an X day nor a Y day, we will stay with an index positioned on the beginning of the first table, which corresponds to ordinary days.

Of course, the flowchart of Figure 7 is a simple version, which can be complicated as required, increasing if necessary the content of the memory illustrated in Figure 4. ^" We will note also that the real time chronometry introduced in the microprocessor presently described only takes into account seconds, minutes, hours and days of the week, it being observed that one can also take into account the days of the month and the days in the 'year, in order to memorize public holidays if necessary.

In the particular case where there is no bus service on Sunday, we can naturally use table 2 for day X, and table 3 for day Y.

We now return to FIG. 5, where after determining the current day at 210, it is determined at test 220 if the current time is outside the extreme service limit hours. These extreme service cut-off times are times set in advance and stored in • memory, between which it is certain that no bus should pass on any line, for example the hours in the middle of the night. In this case, step 268 will directly display an "end of service", followed by the display in step 269 of the information "call not recorded", then a passage to the end of the flowchart of FIG. 5, consisting of a test 300 determining whether the card is still present, this test being followed in the event of a positive response from the display 301 of a "withdraw your card" information, with looping three times on test 300 (step 302). After three indications "remove your card", the power of the alphanumeric display is cut off (step 303). If test 304 determines that a card is still present, we remain in loop on this test, in order to avoid that the presence of the card is subsequently interpreted as a user request. Then we return to step 202. If the user has correctly removed his card before the positive exit from test 302, step 305 cuts off the power supply to the display as before, and we also return to step 202.

C ^* TI When in step 220, it appears that the current time is not outside the service limit hours, the next step 230 searched for a current hourly index, with the setting of a zero initial value, the detailed description of this hourly index search given below. We will admit for the moment that at the end of step 230, the hourly index has been determined corresponding to the next timetable for the passage of the bus compatible with the respective geographic positions ^* of the call terminal and of the diversion point. The index thus determined is put into memory saved by step 255. Next, step 256 determines whether the index indicates an end of service, in which case the path defined by steps 268 et seq. Already cited is followed. If the determined and saved index does not indicate an end of service, test 257 determines whether the user card is still present. If yes, step 258 displays "withdraw your card", then returns before step 257. * This ensures that the user has removed his card. After that, step 259 displays the hours and minutes back, then step 260 displays "next schedule at". After that, step 290 calculates and displays the hours and minutes of the next possible passage from the bus to the terminal. This step 290 in fact comprises a set of steps illustrated in FIG. 5C.

The first step 291 consists in finding the saved hourly index, The next step 292 reads a predetermined time, memorized once and for all, corresponding to the path of the box (or from the routing point in the case of a standard) to the terminal. After that, step 293 reads the time of passage to the box (or to the diversion point) according to the index. Then step 294 adds the travel time to this schedule, by correcting the result if the number of minutes is greater than 60. Finally, step 295 displays the hours and minutes for three seconds. Returning now to the main program, it appears that step 259 recalls the hours and minutes present, and that steps 260 and 290 immediately give the next possible timetable for the passage of the bus at the terminal.

After that, step 261 displays "to confirm your call, insert the card again". Next comes a test 262 which detects if a card is present. In the event of a negative response, a test 264 monitors that a second has elapsed since the display "to confirm. If not, we return to the test 262 of card present. If yes, we go to test 265 which examines if the phrase "to confirm ..." has been displayed twice, if not, return to step 261. If yes, admit that the user does not wish to confirm his call and return to step 202.

In other cases, the answer to test 262 will be yes, and the following operation 263 displays "operation in progress". After this is carried out a telephone call process 270 illustrated in detail in Figure 5A. This figure 5A, step 271 ^is' to start the telephone link research to the cabinet or the standard, with the signal "start" already described with reference to corresponding figures. While the devices already described perform this operation, step 272 first displays the current hours and minutes, by updating them. We have seen that the result of the telephone link search can be either a "recorded call" or a "non-recorded call". In the first case, step 273 goes to stop the telephone link at 283, while in the second case we also go to stop the telephone link at 284, the difference being that the exit from 283 corresponds to a recorded call while the output of 284 corresponds to an unregistered call. if the time has not been sufficient to obtain

r '.I one or the other of the information, step 275 will complete the display by adding the seconds in progress, while being followed at 276 by a display delay of one second. We then monitor again in 277 or 278 whether the call has been recorded or not, a decisive answer to one or the other of the questions being followed by the passage to operations 283 or 284 respectively. If the display delay of one second has elapsed, test 279 again determines whether the call has been recorded, in which case we go to 283, if it has not been recorded, in which case we pass in 284, and if the decision has not yet been taken, a telephone link is stopped in 282, followed by a return just before step 272. As long as the display timeout is not elapsed, a loop is produced between steps 279 and the start of step 277.

FIG. 5A therefore describes a preferred example __ of a telephone call flow diagram, taking into account the timings provided in the hardware circuits of FIGS. 2 and 3. The result of this telephone call procedure can be either a recorded call or the call not recorded.

In the case where the output of process 270 is "recorded call", step 286 memorizes' BUS CALLED 'then step 287 displays "recorded call" and "next' switch to". At this level, it will be noted that the positive output of test 205 also arrives at this step 287. After that, step 288 sets to 1 a flag 'CALL START'. And we find again the step of calculating and displaying the hours and minutes of passage from the bus to the terminal, step which is here numbered 290bis.

After that, we find the steps 300 and following already described.

In the case where the output of the telephone call process is 'CALL NOT RECORDED' step 269 displays "unregistered call". And we go again to steps 300 and following.

The microprocessor 30 also includes a clock capable of defining an internal interruption every tenth of a second, which then produces an interruption of the main program, the interruption program being illustrated in FIG. 6, with a variant in FIG. 6A .

Conventionally, the interruption begins with the saving of the content of the accumulator of the main program (step 400).

An auxiliary time delay being used in the main program, this time delay is decremented in step 401 each time a time interrupt is produced, for updating every second. Then, test 402 determines whether the time counter has reached one second. If not, we go directly to step 420 described below; if so, this means that a second has passed, and step 403 should be used to increment the seconds register. Step 404 detects if it has reached the value 60, in which case it is reset to zero in step 405 to increment the minute register in step 406. The passage of the signal is then monitored in step 407. minute register at 60, whereby the minute register is reset to zero in step 408 and the hour register is incremented by one in step 409 if 60 minutes have been reached. Next, it is detected if the hour register goes to 24 in test 410, whereby it is reset to zero in step 411, while step 412 detects if the current day is a Sunday. If the current day is not a Sunday, the day indication is incremented by one unit, the days of the week being identified by a number. If the current day is a Sunday, step 414 indicates that the current day is a Monday (code zero). After these operations of updating the real time information in seconds, minutes, hours and days of the week, in any case we arrive at step 420 which is a determining test if the bus has arrived at the call terminal. In the case of the embodiment of FIGS. 3A to 3C, the indication can be obtained in real form, by physical detection of the presence of the bus. In the case of FIGS. 2A and 2B (standard), it is desirable to estimate whether the bus has normally passed to the call terminal. This is done by the set of steps denoted 42θA, illustrated in FIG. 6A. We begin with step 421 consisting in a search for the day of the week, in the manner already described. Next, the difference between a predetermined travel time and an estimated travel uncertainty, which depends on the day of the week, for example, is calculated in step 422. The result of this calculation operation is a shortened journey time. This value -from shortened journey time is then in step 423 for a ^'looking for a special time index of the time of interruption, with this time an initial value equal to the shortened travel time. The hourly index thus determined is then used in test 424 to determine a schedule, and test whether it is the end of service. If yes, we deduce that the bus arrived (last bus arrived); if not, test 425 consists in detecting whether the index found and saved in the main program is greater than or equal to the index found above within the framework of the time interrupt. If 'no', step 426 sets the 'BUS A LA BORNE' flag to 1. We are here in the presence of an interesting characteristic of the present invention. In fact, the hourly index found within the framework of the time interruption will be back in time by the value of the shortened journey time. Consequently, if the index saved in the main program is greater than or equal to the index which has just been determined within the framework of the time interrupt, this means that we are in the situation of either a bus which can still be rerouted, either from a bus which is being rerouted between the rerouting point and the call terminal. In this case, the output of test 425 indicates that the bus has not yet arrived. Otherwise, and until the next schedule is designated by the schedule index saved in the main program, we will have the opposite situation where the index determined as part of the time interruption is higher than the index found in the main program, in which case the output of test 425 indicates that the bus has arrived.

At the end of test 420, of FIG. 6, and / or of its variant 420A of FIG. 6A, if it is estimated that ^• the ^" bus has arrived, we go to step 430 which consists of erasing from the main program's call memory ^" . After that, we pass to the restitution of the accumulator 431, restitution which is also the negative output of the test 420, and which is followed by the return in 432 to the main program. We will now describe with reference to FIG. 8 the subroutine for searching the hourly index, keeping in mind that this program can be called either from the main program or from the time interrupt.

After the start 231, step 232 consists in receiving the initialization value, which is zero in the case of a main program call, or else which is the shortened journey time in the case of a call by the inter¬ time break (variant 420A, Figure 6A).

The next step 233 consists in reading the current minutes in real time, while the step 234 consists in calculating the difference between the current minutes and the initialization value collected in step 232. In step 235, if the result is positive, step 236 will leave the current hour unchanged, s therefore acting in principle of the main program, after which step 237 consists in reading the current time. On the contrary, if test 235 has determined that the result of the difference made in step 234 is negative, step 238 consists in delaying the current hour by the shortened journey time (in principle a unit of hour), as part of a time interrupt, then step 239 consists in reading the new current hour. The set of steps 233 to 239 is essentially useful in the case where the detailed variant of step 420A illustrated in FIG. 6A has been provided during the time interruption.

On examining these steps 233 to 239, the person skilled in the art will understand that it is determined whether, taking into account the shortened journey time, there is "reason to correct the current time, and to modify the hourly index in consequence, since the hourly index is the essential element in the search for timetables in the table in Figure 4.

When the variant of FIG. 6A is not used, one can go directly from step 232 to step 237, immediately following by step 240. We therefore now resume at step 240 which consists of a reading of the time in the time tables of FIG. 4, taking into account the hourly index selected. The test 241 determines whether the schedule read represents an end of service, in which case step 252 establishes that the index is an end of service, and we return to the main program at 253 to establish the corresponding information ( this return can possibly be done through a time interruption). If test 241 determines that the schedule read is not an end of service, test 242 determines whether the current time is equal to the time schedule. If so, step 245 consists in positioning the index on the byte of minutes which immediately follows the hours considered, and step 246 consists in reading these minutes, which are then compared in step 247 to the minutes in prices corrected if necessary by the initialization value. If a tie is obtained, step 250 reposition the index on the byte of hours, and step 251 produces a return. Step 248 will otherwise determine if the current minutes are greater than the schedule minutes of the table. If not, we will again reposition the index on the multi¬ plet of hours, at step 250, and return to step 251 to the main program.

If, on the contrary, the minutes in progress are greater than the hours of the schedule at the table, it is then impossible to call the bus, and step 249 will position the index on the following schedule in Table.

In the same way, if at the end of step 242, step 243 comes to determine that the current hour is greater than the hour of the table timetable, we go to step 249 to position the index on the following schedule. Otherwise, if the current hour is less than the hour in the table schedule, we will return by step 244 to the main program or to the time interrupt if necessary.

In the case where the passage from the bus to the terminal is physically detected (infrared link for example), provision is made for a priority external interruption illustrated in FIG. 9, which consists of a step 460 which sets the bus flag to 1. thick headed. Very brief, this interruption does not disturb the time interruptions.

It now remains to describe, with reference to FIG. 5B, the block 450 of the main program. In the case of a box (non-limiting use), this block allows, by a new telephone link called 'STOP', to cancel the diversion order of the bus. It will be recalled that the 'BUS A LA BORNE' flag can be set to 1 either by effective detection of the auto-bus (external interruption 460) or by estimation in the microprocessor from the time of theoretical passage of the bus to the terminal. In the second case, it may very well be that this bus flag at the terminal is set to 1, when no 'START' call has been made successfully, and therefore recorded by the start call flag (step 288 figure 5). Under these conditions, block 450 of the figure

5B begins in 451 with a reset of the bus flag at the terminal. Immediately after, step 452 determines whether the start flag is set to 1. If not, step 461 naturally returns to step 203 of the main program. If so, step 453 resets this start flag. After that, step 454 loads this register with a maximum number of 'STOP', three calls for example. Step 455 then excites the 'STOP' output of the microprocessor to produce the corresponding telephone call. If the return of the box indicates that the call is recorded, test 456 returns to forwarding 461 to step 203. If not, step 457 checks whether the call is considered to be unregistered. If not, we loop over steps 456 and 45 ?. If yes, test 458 examines whether the maximum number of calls has been reached. If not, step 459 decrements the maximum number of calls register, then we return to 455. If the output of test 458 is positive, step 460 resets the start flag to 1, and we exit again by returning 461 to step 203 of the main program. Those skilled in the art will understand that, in the case of a switchboard, where there is no need for a STOP telephone call, it will suffice to delete step 28S from the main program. The start flag not being set, there will always be an immediate return to the main program by step 461. Operation is al ^ORS as follows:

- at a rapid rate, for example every tenth of a second, the time interrupt updates the real time, and the timers provided in the microprocessor; - in the case of the standard (Figures 2A and 2B), or alternatively in the case of the cabinet (Figures 3A to 3C), the 420A variant of the time interruption determines if the bus has in principle arrived at the call terminal; if so, any recorded call is deleted, as well as the corresponding time index, saved in the main program;

- for its part, the main program continuously monitors the arrival of a user inserting his card into the call terminal. The first user to do so will produce an hourly index search, a telephone link to divert the corresponding bus, and receive the indication of the timetable for the passage of the bus at the call terminal. The call is recorded, and the hourly index saved, until the bus passes the terminal (actually determined, and / or estimated). Then other users will have direct, without the need for a telephone link, the indication of the time of passage; - after the passage (detected or estimated) of the bus at the terminal, the call memory is erased, and the hourly index reduced to zero (start of table). A new user is then, again, considered as "first user", and so on until the end of the service.

If we now return to the specific case of a box (infrared, or simple indicator light), it is desirable to ensure that the box goes out after the bus has passed the terminal, even if the telephone lines are crowded. In addition, in the case of a simple box with indicator light, the arrival of the bus at the terminal is not, in principle, detected by infrared. In this case, if it is not detected in any other way, it can be estimated as described according to FIG. 6A, which will then end in the event of a positive response by setting the flag "BUS A"TERMINAL".

The invention is susceptible of another interesting, very simple variant. It is possible to equip all or part of the buses with EUROSIGNAL receivers, capable of being called by a ten-digit telephone number and of lighting up in response an indicator light intended for the driver, this indicator signifying a diversion request. Optionally, in response to the passage of the bus at the terminal (detected or estimated), another 10-digit telephone number can be called to indicate to the other buses that the diversion has been followed, on another indicator of the same - EUROSIGNAL receiver. The call terminal can then be that of FIG. 3A, by deleting in particular the elements 17, 19, 19A, 24, ^* 25, -27, 38, 39 (framed by an axis line). The output of the detector (23) or of a simple line seizure detector then constitutes the "recorded telephone call" information (line 37).

Finally, as previously described, the arrival of the bus at the terminal is, if not detected (circuits 50 and 55 or detection of another kind), at least estimated, to produce, if desired, a second telephone call canceling the diversion order.

The arrangements which have just been described have the advantage that the data memory and the memory of the logical states representative of the various flow charts illustrated in the ordinary capacity of a microprocessor such as the model can be easily introduced. It will also be noted that this microprocessor works directly with a very simple interface consisting of a user card detector and an alphanumeric display which have the advantage of low consumption, as well as protection easy against embezzlement. Furthermore, the alphanumeric display is only activated when a user is present, within the framework of the work loop of the main program. In addition, the crossing times can be entered directly in the form of hours of minutes, so in a very simple way for the service personnel responsible for the maintenance of the various devices at the level of the body managing the line. bus. The use of a single microprocessor for all of the data memory and processing functions considerably facilitates the power supply from public lighting. Finally ^' and above all, the functions performed according to the present invention allow an excellent service with regard to the user, avoiding as far as possible to give erratic indications, which are particularly badly felt by occasional users located outside normal bus routes, reserved for regular users. In this regard, it will be noted in particular the use of timetables linked to the normal diversion point, together with information linked to the actual passage at the call terminal, this information being obtained by physical detection of the bus, and / or by determining an expected transit time from the shortened travel time, as described above.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described, but extends to any variant in accordance with its spirit.

Claims

REVENDICA IONS

1. Call installation allowing diversion at the request of autonomous means of transport such as buses, in which a terminal for calling by the user (BA), located on the diversion route (TD), is likely to cooperate, via a mission such as a telephone link, with a remote station (SD; CD) capable of issuing a diversion order to a bus, while the call terminal includes an interface d user (35.40) and a relay assembly, responsible for transmitting the request to the remote station and for notifying the user of the action taken on this request, characterized in that the user interface comprises, in addition to a calling card reader (35), an alphanumeric display device (40), which the relay assembly comprises, connected to this interface, telephonic coded intercom means (13 to 29), as well as '' a data processing device (30), comprising at least one processing unit itement with an operations memory and a data memory, that the data memory ", .is arranged to contain at least one set of time information (MTH) linked to the normal time of passage of the bus at the point possible diversion, that the operations memory contains logical states (400 to 432) suitable for maintaining in the data processing device on the one hand real time information, on the other hand an operation cycle call

(200 to 305) starting on the introduction of a calling card by a user, and comprising at least:

- the search for the next possible diversion schedule (230) - the search for a telephone link to the remote station (270) in order to request a diversion order, and - on a positive response, the display of the time spent at the terminal (291, 295) obtained by adding a predetermined journey time to the terminal at the time of the selected timetable-, as well as the memorization (286 ) of the diversion order obtained, so that a subsequent start of the operating cycle may result in the immediate display of the time spent at the terminal, without the need for a telephone connection, while also the memory of diversion is erased at the instant of actual or planned passage from the bus to the call terminal.

2. Call installation according to claim 1 characterized in that the data processing device comprises a microprocessor (30) capable of interruptions, the interruptions serving for the maintenance of real time information, while the cycle of call operations is the normal cycle followed by the microprocessor.

3. Call installation according to claim 2, characterized in that the deletion of the rerouting memory (430) takes place in the context of inter¬ breaks for maintenance of real time. ^~

4. Call installation according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the data memory (MTH) comprises several sets of time information (MTH1 to MTH3) and that the cycle of operations d the call answers (210) on the current day of the week by selecting one of these sets of time information.

5. Installation according to one of claims

1 to 4, characterized in that each set of hourly information is accessible by index, and that the call operation cycle includes (230) the determination of a current hourly index (231 to 253).

6. Call installation according to one of reven¬ dications 1 to 5, characterized in that the main operating cycle responds to a first introduction of the card by displaying (260, 290) the timetable for the next passage possible from the bus to the terminal, then to a second insertion of the card (262) by initiating the telephone call process (270).

7. Installation according to one of claims

1 to 6, characterized in that the cycle of call operations begins with a supply of the alphanumeric display (203) on insertion (202) of the calling card and ends with a extinction of the display (303.305).

8. Installation according to one of claims 1 1 7, characterized in that the maintenance of real time (400 to 432) further comprises the determination (423) of another hourly index, from μn time significantly delayed travel time and diversion to the terminal, and the comparison (424) of this other hourly index. at the aforementioned hourly index, which makes it possible to estimate whether a diverted bus has arrived at the diappel terminal.

9. Installation according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that each timetable information comprises, on two index positions successi¬ ves, the hours, then the minutes.

10. Installation according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the processing device comprises means for producing a first telephone call representative of a diversion request, and a second telephone call representative of the diversion carried out .

11. Installation according to claim 10, characterized in that the processing device is arranged (450-458) to repeat the second telephone call when the telephone connection could not be obtained.