WO2013144868A2

WO2013144868A2 - System and method for communicating information between vehicles

Info

Publication number: WO2013144868A2
Application number: PCT/IB2013/052444
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ganesh Gudigara; Jayaprakash MUTHARAYAPPA
Original assignee: Ganesh Gudigara
Priority date: 2012-03-27
Filing date: 2013-03-27
Publication date: 2013-10-03
Also published as: WO2013144868A3

Abstract

The embodiments herein provide a system and method for communicating information between vehicles. The vehicles are configured with onboard unit for receiving and transmitting the information. The onboard unit consists of LEDs each mapped for a particular external condition. Upon identification of one or more external conditions, one or more LEDs will glow. Further, when a user of the vehicle identifies one or more external conditions, keys corresponding to the identified one or more external conditions are pressed in an input device associated with the vehicle. The input device transmits the information to the onboard unit, and the onboard unit transmits the information to the nearest road side unit. The road side transmits the information to other nearest road side units in the communication network and to a central server.

Description

Title: "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING INFORMATION

BETWEEN VEHICLES"

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Indian patent application serial number 1157/CHE/2012 filed on March 27, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to motor vehicles with onboard communication unit. More particularly, embodiments of the disclosure relate to an onboard unit configured to transmit and receive road safety information.

BACKGROUND

Road safety is one of the primary concerns all over the world and assuring road safety is one of the real challenges. A road safety system reduces accident and assures safe travelling from one place to another through communication of proper guidelines, and security information. The need of a road safety system is to provide up-to-date information concerning localized road and traffic conditions.

In the conventional road safety systems, vehicles are equipped with a variety of informational systems such as navigation system, radio system, two-way satellite services and the like. These systems are sometimes interconnected for improved functionality. These systems use wireless communication systems between vehicles and between infrastructures, such as roadside communication device. Few conventional systems provide for arranging roadside communication device on the side of a road, service area and the like, which communicates road information and content to the traveling vehicle. Normally, the system transmits and receives data through on-board communication device within an area reachable by the radio wave from the roadside communication device. However, in such system, the service can be provided only when the vehicle is in the range covered by radio wave from the roadside communication device. Hence, there exists a need of a system and method for effectively communicating road safety information between the vehicles on road.

SUMMARY

The shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages are provided through the provision of a method and a system as described in the description.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides an onboard unit. The onboard unit is communicatively connected to at least one road side unit for transmitting and receiving information. The onboard unit comprises a receiving unit configured to receive information from at least one of an input device and a road side unit in proximity to said onboard unit, a display unit configured to display the information received from the road side unit and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the information received from the input device to the road side unit in proximity to said onboard unit.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for transmitting information by an onboard unit of a vehicle. The method comprises identifying one or more external conditions by user of the vehicle. The identified one or more external conditions are transmitted to the onboard unit by pressing corresponding keys of an input device. Further, the onboard unit transmits the identified one or more external conditions to a road side unit, wherein the road side unit is in proximity to the onboard unit.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method of receiving information by an onboard unit of a vehicle. The method comprises receiving the information by the onboard unit from at least one of a road side unit in proximity to the onboard unit and a central server. The received information is displayed on a display unit of the onboard unit. Further, the onboard unit transmits the information to the input device and the input device displays the information on its display area.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a system for communicating information between onboard units of vehicles. The onboard unit receives the information from at least one of a road side unit in proximity to the onboard unit, a central server and an input device. The information received from the input device is transmitted to one or more road side units in proximity to the onboard unit. The onboard unit also transmits location information of the vehicle to the one or more road side units in proximity to the onboard unit. The road side unit transmits the received information to atleast one of a central server and the one or more road side units in proximity to the road side unit transmitting the information.

In one embodiment, the on board unit is configured in the vehicle as a mobile charger with one or more charging outputs along with the functionality of transmitting and receiving information.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects and features described above, further aspects, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The embodiments of the disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig.l illustrates system architecture for communicating information between vehicles in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig.2 illustrates a block diagram of onboard unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig.3 illustrates a flowchart showing process of transmitting information by an onboard unit of a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig.4 illustrates a flowchart showing process of receiving information by an onboard unit of a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific aspect disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the disclosure, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure provides system architecture for communicating information between vehicles.

Fig.l illustrates system architecture for communicating information between vehicles. The system 100 comprises a central server 102 associated with a service provider, one or more road side units 104 and onboard unit 106 configured in each of the vehicle. In an exemplary embodiment, the onboard unit 106 is configured in the vehicle as a mobile charging unit. The central server 102 is configured on regional basis. In each region, there exist one central server 102, one or more road side units 104 to the central server 102 and the vehicles travelling with the onboard unit 106 connected to nearest roadside unit 104.

In an embodiment, the onboard unit 106 configured in the vehicles and the one or more road side units 104 are registered with the central server 102. The central server 102 provides an authentication system for authenticating the use of one or more onboard units 106 and the one or more road side units 104.

The onboard unit 104 is provided with a tag for authenticating the registration of onboard unit 104 with the central server 102. The tag is read by the tag reader installed at predetermined places on road. Unpaired tags will generate an alert which will be sent to the central server 102 which in turn detects the unauthorized usage of the service or the facility provided by the service provider. In an embodiment, the tag readers can read the tags from 40m- 150m distance and collect the information about the vehicle and the user. In an embodiment, the central server 102 maintains safety related statistics in its database upon receiving the information from the one or more road side units 104. The central server 102 comprises a user interface, which provides a digital map showing each road side unit as a point in GIS mapping system. The statistics can be viewed by clicking on each road side unit on the map. The central server 102 also comprises a data processing unit for analyzing the traffic based on number of the onboard units 106 moved in and around of any road side unit 104.

The onboard unit 106 is connected to the nearest road side unit 104 through a communication interface for receiving and transmitting information. The information received from the nearest road side unit 104 is any information like advertisement information, infotainment information and the information related to external conditions. In an embodiment, the external conditions are selected from atleast one of landslide/deep curves, tree on road, accident, traffic jam, mob fighting, forest, dangerous points, robbery points, bridges, railway crossings, vehicle breakdown, medical emergency, pot holes in road and bad roads. A person skilled in the art would understand that any other information can be transmitted between the onboard units 106. The information transmitted from the onboard unit 106 to the nearest road side unit 104 is related to the external conditions. The road side unit 104 transmits the received information to the nearest road side units 104 in the communication network. In this way, the information is communicated to all the vehicles in the region. Further, the road side unit 104 transmits the received information the central server 102. The central server 102 receives the information from all the road side units 104 in the region and maintains data analytics about all the vehicles moving in the region.

The communication interface for communication between the onboard unit 106 and the road side unit 104 can be any interface capable of communicating information. In one embodiment, the communication interface comprises 3G, GSM, GPRS, CDMA, WiMAX datacard and LTE/4G interface.

Fig.2 illustrates an onboard unit 106 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The on board unit 106 is configured in the vehicle as a mobile charger with one or more charging outputs along with the functionality of transmitting and receiving information. The onboard unit 106 consists of a transmitting unit 200, receiving unit 202 and a display unit 204. The display unit 204 consists of one or more LEDs and a display area wherein each LED is assigned to a particular external condition. The onboard unit 106 is communicatively coupled to an input device 206 provided in the vehicle. The input device 206 is connected to the onboard unit 106 through a communication interface. The input device 206 consists of one or more keys each associated to one or more external conditions and a display area. In an exemplary embodiment, the input device 206 can be a remote control. A person skilled in the art would understand that any other input device can be used for transmitting the information to the onboard unit.

A user of the vehicle identifies one or more external conditions on road. Upon identifying the one or more external conditions, the user presses the corresponding keys on the input device 206. The input device 206 transmits the identified one or more external conditions to the onboard unit 106 through the communication interface. The receiving unit 202 receives the one or more external conditions identified by the user and transmits to the transmitting unit 200. The transmitting unit 200 transmits the identified one or more external conditions to the nearest road side unit 104. The receiving unit 202 of the onboard unit 106 is also configured to receive information from the nearest road side unit 104. The information related to advertisement and infotainment is displayed on the display area of the display unit 204. The information related to external conditions is displayed on the display area of the display unit 204 and also the LEDs corresponding to the external conditions glows.

In an embodiment, the information received from the road side unit 104 is transmitted to the input device 206 by the onboard unit 106 through the communication interface. The input device 206 displays the information on its display area.

For example, in a particular region, there exists a central server 102 and one or more road side units 104 like road side unit 1, road side unit 2, road side unit 3 road side unit n each configured on different roads like road 1 , road 2 road 3 and road n.. On each road there will n number of vehicles and the vehicles are configured with the onboard unit 106. If an accident has occurred on road 1 and a user of vehicle 1 on road 1 identifies the accident, the user presses a key on an input device 206, which corresponds to the accident. The input device 206 transmits the information related to the accident to the onboard unit 1 of the vehicle 1. The onboard unit 1 transmits the information the nearest road side unit 104 that is road side unit 1. The road side unit 1 then transmits the information to its nearest road side units like road side unit 2. The road side unit 2 transmits the information to vehicles within its range and other road side units in the communication network. In this way the information about the accident on road 1 is transmitted to all the vehicles in the region.

In an embodiment, the onboard unit 106 is provided with a Global Positioning System (GPS) transmitter to transmit location information of the onboard unit 106 to the nearest road side unit 104. The road side unit 104 transmits the information received from the onboard unit 106 of the one or more vehicles to the central server 102 along with the location information of the one or more vehicles.

In an embodiment, the display area of the onboard unit 106 is configured to display the information in one or more languages. The communication interface for communication between the onboard unit and the input device can be any interface capable of communicating information. In one embodiment, the communication interface comprises a USB interface, a Zigbee interface, a Bluetooth interface and any other interface capable of communicating information.

Fig.3 illustrates a process of transmitting information by an onboard unit 106 of a vehicle. At step 301 , a user of the vehicle identifies one or more external conditions on road. Upon identifying, at step 303, the user presses keys corresponding to the identified one or more external conditions in an input device 206, wherein the input device 206 is connected to the onboard unit 106. After pressing the corresponding keys, at step 305, the input device 206 transmits the identified one or more external conditions to the onboard unit. At step 307, the onboard unit 106 transmits the identified external one or more conditions to a nearest road side unit 104. At step 309, the road side unit 104 transmits the identified external one or more conditions to the nearest road side unit 104 in the communication network and to the central server 102. In this way, the information is transmitted to all the vehicles in the region.

Fig.4 illustrates a process of receiving information by an onboard unit 106 of a vehicle. At step 401 , the onboard unit 106 receives information from at least one of a central server 102 and nearest road side unit 104. At step 403, the onboard unit 106 checks if the received information is related to one or more external conditions. If the information is related to the one or more external conditions, then the corresponding LEDs in the display unit 204 of the onboard unit glows at step 407 and also the information is displayed on the display area of the display unit 204 at step 405. If the information is related to infotainment and entertainment then the information is displayed on display area of the onboard unit 106 at step 405. At step 409, the onboard unit 106 transmits the information received from the road side unit 104 to the input device 206 and the input device 206 displays the information on display area of the input device at step 411.

In an embodiment, the onboard unit 106 has a capability to receive the information from the road side unit 104 in text or audio or video format and the onboard unit 106 can play the audio or video. In an embodiment, the central server 102 is provided with advertisement processing unit to handle the advertisements, which is majorly audio/video/text information. The scheduling of advertisement information is done by the advertisement processing unit based on time and location. The advertisement information is provided to the onboard unit of the one or more vehicles from the central server through the road side unit.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

Claims:

1. An onboard unit communicatively connected to atleast one road side unit for transmitting and receiving information, said onboard unit comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive information from atleast one of an input device and a road side unit in proximity to said onboard unit; a display unit configured to display the information received from the road side unit; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the information received from the input device to the road side unit in proximity to said onboard unit and to transmit the information received from the road side unit to the input device.

2. The onboard unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input device comprises one or more keys assigned to one or more external conditions.

3. The onboard unit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the one or more keys are pressed upon identification of the one or more external conditions.

4. The onboard unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input device comprises a display area for displaying the information received from the onboard unit.

5. The onboard unit as claimed in claim 1 is configured in a vehicle as a mobile charging unit with one or more charging outputs.

6. The onboard unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the display unit of the onboard unit comprises of Light Emitting Diode (LEDs) to indicate the one or more external conditions and a display area to display the information.

7. The onboard unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information is selected from atleast one of advertisement information and the information related to the external conditions selected from a group comprising lands lide/deep curves, tree on road, accident, traffic jam, mob fighting, forest, dangerous points, robbery points, bridges, railway crossings, vehicle breakdown, medical emergency, pot holes on road and bad roads.

8. A method for transmitting information by an onboard unit of a vehicle comprising: identifying one or more external conditions by user of the vehicle; transmitting the identified one or more external conditions to the onboard unit by pressing corresponding keys of an input device; and transmitting the identified one or more external conditions from the onboard unit to a road side unit, wherein the road side unit is in proximity to the onboard unit.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the identified one or more external conditions received by the road side unit is transmitted to atleast one of a central server and the one or more road side units in proximity to the road side unit transmitting the one or more identified external conditions.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the external conditions are selected from atleast one of landslide/deep curves, tree on road, accident, traffic jam, mob fighting, forest, dangerous points, robbery points, bridges, railway crossings, vehicle breakdown, medical emergency, pot holes on road and bad roads.

11. A method of receiving information by an onboard unit of a vehicle comprising: receiving the information by the onboard unit from atleast one of a road side unit in proximity to the onboard unit and a central server; displaying the information on a display unit of the onboard unit; transmitting the information to an input device from the onboard unit; and displaying the information on display area of the input device.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the information is selected from atleast one of advertisement information and the information related to external conditions selected from a group comprising lands lide/deep curves, tree on road, accident, traffic jam, mob fighting, forest, dangerous points, robbery points, bridges, railway crossings, vehicle breakdown, medical emergency, pot holes in road and bad roads.

13. A system for communicating information between an onboard unit of one or more vehicles comprising:

the onboard unit configured to:

receive the information from atleast one of a road side unit in proximity to the onboard unit, a central server and an input device, transmits the received information from the input device to one or more road side units in proximity to the onboard unit,

transmits the information received from the road side unit to the input device,

transmits location information of the vehicle to the one or more road side units in proximity to the onboard unit; and

the road side unit transmits the received information to atleast one of a central server and the one or more road side units in proximity to the road side unit transmitting the information.

14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the road side unit transmits the location information of the one or more vehicles to the central server.

15. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the information is selected from atleast one of advertisement information and the information related to external conditions selected from a group comprising lands lide/deep curves, tree on road, accident, traffic jam, mob fighting, forest, dangerous points, robbery points, bridges, railway crossings, vehicle breakdown, medical emergency, pot holes on road and bad roads.