JP2008197702A - Inter-vehicle communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to suppress an increase in communication traffic in inter-vehicle communication.
A vehicle-detectable vehicle detecting means for detecting a vehicle communicable with the own vehicle, and information on the vehicle detected by the vehicle-communicatable vehicle detecting means is transmitted to another vehicle by a transmitting means. Communicable vehicle information adding means 18 to be added to the information, other vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means 15 for detecting a vehicle communicable with the vehicle which has transmitted the information based on the information received by the receiving means 13, and the own vehicle The vehicle information detected by the communicable vehicle detection means 14 and the vehicle information detected by the other vehicle communicable vehicle detection means 15 are compared, and a vehicle that cannot communicate with the own vehicle and can communicate with the relay vehicle is determined. And a non-line-of-sight vehicle detection means 16 for detecting, when the vehicle is detected by the non-line-of-sight vehicle detection means 16, the relay vehicle is designated and information on the own vehicle is transmitted to the relay vehicle. It has been relayed vehicle relays information.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an inter-vehicle communication device.

  In a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system that exchanges information between vehicles and supports vehicle travel, communication may not be possible at intersections with poor visibility, and as a countermeasure, a repeater may be installed on the roadside, Methods such as relaying vehicles to communicate are adopted.

For example, a vehicle that has entered an intersection with poor visibility transmits that it can operate as a relay vehicle to other nearby vehicles by an in-vehicle communication device. The vehicle is designated as a relay vehicle and its own information is transmitted (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-148322 A

However, in the inter-vehicle communication using the conventional relay vehicle, it is not possible to confirm whether or not there is a vehicle that may be dangerous for the own vehicle in an area where visibility is poor.
In addition, there is a problem that communication traffic increases because information is transmitted by relaying a vehicle in an intersection even when there is no vehicle that can be dangerous for the host vehicle in an area where visibility is poor.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides an inter-vehicle communication device that can relay and communicate with a vehicle only when a vehicle that may be dangerous for the vehicle exists in an area with poor visibility.

The vehicle-to-vehicle communication device according to the present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above problems.
The invention according to claim 1 is a transmission means for transmitting information to a vehicle outside the own vehicle (for example, transmission means 12 in an embodiment described later) and a reception means for receiving information from a vehicle outside the own vehicle ( For example, receiving means 13) in an embodiment described later, and relay means for relaying information received by the receiving means to a vehicle outside the host vehicle by the transmitting means (for example, relay means 21 in an embodiment described later) , A vehicle-to-vehicle communication device (for example, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device 1A or 1B in an embodiment to be described later), and a vehicle-detectable vehicle detection means (for example, described later) that detects a vehicle that can communicate with the vehicle. The vehicle information detected by the own vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means 14) in the embodiment and the vehicle information detected by the own vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means are converted into information transmitted to the outside by the transmitting means. A communicable vehicle information adding unit (for example, communicable vehicle information adding unit 18 in an embodiment described later) and a vehicle communicable with the vehicle that transmitted the information are detected based on the information received by the receiving unit. Other vehicle communicable vehicle detection means (for example, other vehicle communicable vehicle detection means 15 in the embodiment described later), vehicle information detected by the own vehicle communicable vehicle detection means, and other vehicle communicable vehicle detection. Non-line-of-sight vehicle detection means for detecting a vehicle that cannot communicate with the own vehicle and can communicate with the vehicle that has transmitted the information based on the comparison result with the vehicle information detected by the means (for example, an embodiment described later) Vehicle that can communicate with the vehicle when the vehicle is detected by the non-line-of-sight vehicle detection unit. The vehicle is designated as a relay vehicle and transmits information by the transmission means, and the relay means relays when the own vehicle is instructed to relay information by the vehicle that transmitted the information. It is a communication device.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the first vehicle (for example, a vehicle A in an embodiment described later) is the host vehicle, and the second vehicle (for example, in an embodiment described later). When the vehicle B) is a vehicle detected by the non-line-of-sight vehicle detection means and a third vehicle (for example, a vehicle C in an embodiment described later) is the relay vehicle, the second vehicle receives the vehicle B). When the information transmitted from the first vehicle and the information transmitted by relaying the third vehicle are the same information, the information is transmitted by the transmitting means without instructing the third vehicle as a relay vehicle. Is transmitted.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the first vehicle (for example, a vehicle A in an embodiment described later) is the host vehicle, and the second vehicle (for example, the later described) Vehicle B) in the embodiment to be detected is the vehicle detected by the non-line-of-sight vehicle detection means, and when the third vehicle (for example, vehicle C in the embodiment described later) is the relay vehicle, the second vehicle When only the information transmitted through the third vehicle is received, the third vehicle is designated as a relay vehicle, and the information is transmitted by the transmission means.

According to the first aspect of the invention, information can be exchanged between vehicles, the presence or absence of a vehicle (non-line-of-sight vehicle) that cannot exchange information with the own vehicle based on the actual communication state can be detected, and Unidentified vehicles can be identified.
Also, a relay vehicle is specified only when there is an unforeseen vehicle, and information on the own vehicle is transmitted to the non-line-of-sight vehicle via this relay vehicle. Therefore, only a minimum communication can be performed, and as a result, an increase in communication traffic can be suppressed.
Moreover, since a relay vehicle is designated based on an actual communication state, the communication which relayed the relay vehicle can be performed reliably.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the second vehicle that relays the third vehicle and receives the information of the first vehicle promptly transmits the information of the second vehicle without relaying the information of the third vehicle. It can be transmitted to the first vehicle.
According to the third aspect of the invention, the second vehicle that relays the third vehicle and receives the information of the first vehicle relays the information of the second vehicle to the first vehicle. Can be reliably transmitted to other vehicles.

Embodiments of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings of FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the inter-vehicle communication devices 1 </ b> A and 1 </ b> B include the own vehicle information detecting unit 11, the transmitting unit 12, the receiving unit 13, the own vehicle communicable vehicle detecting unit 14, and the other vehicle communicable vehicle detection. Means 15, non-line-of-sight vehicle detection means 16, relay vehicle setting means 17, communicable vehicle information addition means 18, travel support determination means 19, and information provision means 20 are provided.

  The own vehicle information detection means 11 is, for example, a vehicle speed sensor that detects the traveling speed (vehicle speed) of the own vehicle, or a GPS (Global Positioning System) that measures the position of the vehicle using an artificial satellite, for example. Positioning signals such as signals, position signals transmitted from information transmission devices outside the host vehicle, magnetic action with, for example, a base point marker placed on the road, and further detection results of an appropriate gyro sensor, acceleration sensor, etc. Based on the position sensor that detects the current position and traveling direction of the host vehicle, the yaw angle (rotational angle around the vertical axis of the vehicle center of gravity), yaw rate (rotational angular velocity around the vertical axis of the vehicle center of gravity) and steering angle ( Each sensor etc. which detect the direction and magnitude | size of the steering angle which the driver input are comprised. The own vehicle information detection unit 11 outputs the detected own vehicle information to the transmission unit 12 and the travel support determination unit 19.

The transmission means 12 transmits various information of the host vehicle and the vehicle that has requested relaying to a vehicle outside the host vehicle, that is, another vehicle at regular time intervals (for example, 100 msec).
The receiving means 13 receives various types of information transmitted from other vehicles, and the received information is sent to the own vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means 14, the other vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means 15, the communicable vehicle information adding means 18, and the driving support. It outputs to the judgment means 19.
The transmission unit 12 and the reception unit 13 function as a relay unit 21 that relays information received by the reception unit 13 to other vehicles by the transmission unit 12 when the host vehicle is designated as a relay vehicle, as will be described later.

  Here, the information transmitted / received by vehicle-to-vehicle communication will be described. As shown in the transmission data table of FIG. 2, the transmission data transmitted by the transmission source vehicle includes (1) serial number, (2) own vehicle ID, (3) vehicle ID requesting relay, and (4) vehicle type. , (5) vehicle position, and (6) vehicle ID list during information exchange.

The serial number is a serial number that is updated by adding one each time the own vehicle transmits data.
The own vehicle ID is an ID unique to the vehicle set in advance for the own vehicle.
The vehicle ID that requests relay is the vehicle ID of the vehicle that requests communication relay when there is a non-line-of-sight vehicle with respect to the host vehicle, as will be described later, and is not set when relay is not requested.
The vehicle type is an ID representing a preset vehicle type. For example, “1” is an ID of a normal vehicle, “2” is an ID of a small vehicle, “3” is an ID of a large vehicle, and “2” is an ID of a motorcycle. 4 ”etc.
The vehicle position is a latitude / longitude indicating the current position of the host vehicle detected by the host vehicle information detection unit 11.
The vehicle ID list during information exchange is the vehicle ID of all the vehicles that are transmitting and receiving to and from the own vehicle, and is listed based on the detection result of the own vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means 14 described later.

  Further, the vehicle requested to relay transmits the relay data shown in the relay data table of FIG. 3 in addition to the own vehicle data of FIG. The relay data includes (1) a serial number of a vehicle that has requested relay (hereinafter referred to as a transmission source vehicle), (2) a vehicle ID of the transmission source vehicle, (3) a relayed vehicle ID, and (4) a transmission source vehicle. Vehicle type, (5) vehicle position of the transmission source vehicle, and (6) a vehicle ID list in which the transmission source vehicle is exchanging information.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, on a T-shaped road where road R1 and road R2 intersect with a T-shape, vehicle A (first vehicle) travels on road R1 toward intersection P, and vehicle B (Second vehicle) travels on road R2 toward intersection P, and vehicle C (third vehicle) travels on the opposite lane of vehicle B in intersection P, where vehicle A and vehicle Assume that B has a completely poor view due to an obstacle S in the vicinity of the intersection P, or is intermittently bad. In such a case, the received electric field strength changes significantly as shown in FIG. 5 due to the obstacle S, and reception becomes impossible or reception becomes impossible intermittently.

  In this case, the own vehicle data corresponding to FIG. 2 transmitted by the vehicles A, B, and C are as shown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 8, respectively. 6 and 7 show an example in which the vehicles A and B set the vehicle C as a relay vehicle, and FIG. 8 shows an example in which the vehicle C does not set a relay vehicle. The setting of the relay vehicle will be described later.

  The vehicle ID list during information exchange will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 4B, the vehicle A is exchanging information with the vehicle C, and is not exchanging information with the vehicle B. The vehicle ID of the vehicle C is set in the vehicle ID list during information exchange (see FIG. 6). Similarly, since the vehicle B is exchanging information with the vehicle C and not exchanging information with the vehicle A, the vehicle ID of the vehicle C is set in the vehicle ID list in which the vehicle B is exchanging information ( (See FIG. 7). On the other hand, since the vehicle C is exchanging information with the vehicles A and B, the vehicle IDs of the vehicles A and B are set in the vehicle ID list in which the vehicle C is exchanging information (see FIG. 8).

The own vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means 14 detects a vehicle communicable with the own vehicle based on the information received by the receiving means 13 and outputs the detected vehicle to the out-of-sight vehicle detecting means 16 and the communicable vehicle information adding means 18.
The other vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means 15 detects a vehicle communicable with the vehicle that has transmitted the information based on the “vehicle ID list during information exchange” of the information received by the receiving means 13, and detects an unsightly vehicle. Output to means 16. In the example of the vehicles A, B, and C described above, for example, the vehicle detection means 15 capable of communicating with other vehicles of the vehicle A can communicate with the vehicle C that has transmitted this information based on the information transmitted from the vehicle C. It is detected that the vehicle is the host vehicle A and the other vehicle B.

  The non-line-of-sight vehicle detection means 16 uses the vehicle information (vehicle ID) detected by the own vehicle communicable vehicle detection means 14 and the vehicle information (vehicle ID) detected by the other vehicle communicable vehicle detection means 15. Based on the comparison result, a vehicle that cannot communicate with the own vehicle and can communicate with the vehicle that has transmitted the information (hereinafter referred to as an unsighted vehicle) is detected and output to the relay vehicle setting means 17 To do.

  In the example of the vehicles A, B, and C described above, for example, the non-line-of-sight vehicle detection unit 16 of the vehicle A detects the vehicle ID of the vehicle C detected by the own vehicle communication capable vehicle detection unit 14 and the other vehicle communication possible vehicle detection. By comparing the vehicle IDs of the vehicles (the own vehicle A and the other vehicle B) detected by the means 15, the vehicle B that cannot communicate with the own vehicle A but can communicate with the vehicle C is detected. That is, the vehicle A recognizes the vehicle B as an out-of-sight vehicle.

  The relay vehicle setting unit 17 sets a vehicle that can communicate with the non-line-of-sight vehicle as a relay vehicle when the non-line-of-sight vehicle detection unit 16 detects the non-line-of-sight vehicle, and outputs the vehicle to the transmission unit 12. For example, the relay vehicle setting means 17 of the vehicle A sets the vehicle C as a relay vehicle. Then, the vehicle ID of the vehicle C is set as the “vehicle ID of the vehicle requesting relay” of the own vehicle data of the vehicle A (see FIG. 6). The same applies to the vehicle B (see FIG. 7).

  The communicable vehicle information adding means 18 designates the vehicle detected by the own vehicle communicable vehicle detection means 14 and requested to be relayed when the relay is requested by designating the own vehicle as a relay vehicle. Is output to the transmission means 12. Thereby, the vehicle requested to relay transmits the own vehicle data and the information of the vehicle that has requested the relay to the outside by the transmission unit 12.

  In the example of the vehicles A, B, and C described above, when the vehicle C is not requested to relay from any vehicle, only the own vehicle data of the vehicle C shown in FIG. For example, when the vehicle C is requested to relay from the vehicle A, the vehicle C transmits the own vehicle data of the vehicle C shown in FIG. 8 and the relay data shown in FIG. Send to other vehicle. In the relay data transmitted by the vehicle C shown in FIG. 9, the vehicle ID of the vehicle C is set as the “relayed vehicle ID”, and the data of the vehicle A received by the vehicle C from the vehicle A is set as it is for the other data. Is done.

  The vehicle B that has received the relay data recognizes that the vehicle ID of the vehicle C is received by relaying the vehicle C because the vehicle ID of the vehicle C is set as the “relayed vehicle ID” information.

  The driving support determination unit 19 performs various determination processes for supporting the traveling of the host vehicle. For example, when there is a temporarily stopped intersection in front of the traveling direction of the host vehicle, the traveling support determination unit 19 performs a normal braking operation before the intersection. Various determinations are performed such as determining whether or not the vehicle is traveling at a vehicle speed that can be temporarily stopped at a predetermined position, and determining whether or not the brake assist is necessary when the host vehicle performs a brake operation. The driving support determination unit 19 outputs the determination result to the information providing device 20.

  The information providing device 20 notifies the vehicle occupant of the determination result of the driving support determining means 19, and is composed of, for example, a display device that displays predetermined alarm information, a speaker that emits predetermined alarm sound, and the like. .

  Next, transmission / reception processing of the inter-vehicle communication devices 1A, 1B will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. The transmission / reception processing routines shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 10 and 11 are repeatedly executed at regular intervals by the electronic control unit.

First, the transmission / reception process of the vehicle requesting relay will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, the case where the vehicle A in the above-described example shown in FIG. 4 requests the relay using the vehicle C as a relay vehicle will be described.
First, in step S01, the vehicle A receives the information transmitted from the vehicle C, and acquires a vehicle ID list for information exchange of the vehicle C.
Next, it progresses to step S02 and the vehicle A updates the vehicle ID list | wrist in which the own vehicle is exchanging information based on the information of the other vehicle received latest.
Next, it progresses to step S03 and the vehicle A performs a driving assistance determination process.

Next, proceeding to step S04, the vehicle A compares the vehicle ID list of the vehicle C that is exchanging information acquired in step S01 with the vehicle ID list of the host vehicle that is updated in step S02 and is exchanging information. Then, it is determined whether or not an out-of-sight vehicle (vehicle B) exists.
If the determination result in step S04 is “YES” (there is an unforeseen vehicle), the process proceeds to step S05, where the vehicle A sets (designates) the vehicle C that can communicate with the unforeseen vehicle as a relay vehicle, and step S07. Proceed to
On the other hand, if the determination result in step S04 is “NO” (no unforeseen vehicle), the process proceeds to step S06, where vehicle A cancels the setting (designation) of the relay vehicle and proceeds to step S07.

In step S07, the vehicle A collects vehicle information (for example, own vehicle position information) of the own vehicle necessary for the transmission information.
Next, the process proceeds to step S08, and the own vehicle data corresponding to FIG. 6 is created based on the collected information of the own vehicle. Further, the process proceeds to step S09, and the created own vehicle data is transmitted via the transmission means 12. It transmits to other vehicles, completes a series of processing, and returns.

  Next, the transmission / reception process of the vehicle requested to relay will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, the case where the vehicle C in the example shown in FIG. 4 is requested to relay from the vehicle A will be described.

First, in step S11, the vehicle C receives transmission data of the vehicle A.
Next, it progresses to step S12 and the vehicle C determines whether the own vehicle (vehicle C) is set (designated) as a relay vehicle based on the received transmission data of the vehicle A.
If the determination result in step S12 is “NO”, the vehicle C is not designated as a relay vehicle, so a series of processing is terminated and the process returns.

If the determination result in step S12 is “YES”, the vehicle C is designated as a relay vehicle from the vehicle A, so the process proceeds to step S13, where the vehicle C creates relay data corresponding to FIG. Proceeding to step S14, the vehicle C transmits the created relay data to the other vehicle via the transmission unit 12, ends the series of processes, and returns.
Thereby, as shown in FIG. 4C, the information of the vehicle A can be relayed to the vehicle C and transmitted to the vehicle B.

  When vehicle B, which is a non-line-of-sight vehicle for vehicle A, does not receive information related to vehicle A that is directly transmitted from vehicle A, but only receives information related to vehicle A that is transmitted via vehicle C. The vehicle B sets the vehicle C as a relay vehicle, and transmits the own vehicle data of the vehicle B by the transmission means 12. Thus, the vehicle B can reliably transmit the information of the vehicle B to the vehicle A through the vehicle C.

  Further, the vehicle B, which is an unforeseen vehicle for the vehicle A, receives the information related to the vehicle A directly transmitted from the vehicle A and the information related to the vehicle A transmitted via the vehicle C. In the case of the same information (information of the same serial number), the vehicle B transmits the own vehicle data of the vehicle B by the transmission means 12 without setting the vehicle C as a relay vehicle. Thereby, the vehicle B can transmit the information of the vehicle B to the vehicle A quickly without relaying the vehicle C.

As described above, according to the vehicle-to-vehicle communication devices 1A and 1B in this embodiment, by exchanging a list of vehicles that are exchanging information between vehicles, the vehicle and the vehicle are based on the actual communication state. It is possible to detect the presence or absence of an out-of-sight vehicle that cannot exchange information, and to identify an out-of-sight vehicle.
Then, a relay vehicle is set only when there is a non-line-of-sight vehicle, and information on the own vehicle is transmitted to the non-line-of-sight vehicle via this relay vehicle, and when there is no non-line-of-sight vehicle, the relay vehicle is not set. Therefore, only a minimum communication can be performed, and as a result, an increase in communication traffic can be suppressed.
Further, since the relay vehicle is set based on the actual communication state, it is possible to reliably perform the communication relaying the relay vehicle.

[Other Examples]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.
For example, in the above-described embodiments, the communication mode at an intersection with poor visibility is described. However, the communication mode is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to, for example, a curve with poor visibility.

It is a functional block diagram in the Example of the inter-vehicle communication apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the own vehicle data transmitted / received in the inter-vehicle communication apparatus of an Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the relay data transmitted / received in the vehicle-to-vehicle communication apparatus of an Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the communication aspect in an intersection in the inter-vehicle communication apparatus of an Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the time change of the received electric field strength in vehicle-to-vehicle communication. It is a figure which shows an example of the own vehicle data of the vehicle A in the communication aspect shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the own vehicle data of the vehicle B in the communication aspect shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the own vehicle data of the vehicle C in the communication aspect shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the relay data which the vehicle C relays in the communication aspect shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the transmission / reception process of the vehicle by the side which requests relay in the inter-vehicle communication apparatus of an Example. It is a flowchart which shows the transmission / reception process of the vehicle by the side of which the relay is requested in the inter-vehicle communication apparatus of an Example.

Explanation of symbols

1A, 1B Inter-Vehicle Communication Device 12 Transmitting means 13 Receiving means 14 Own vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means 15 Other vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means 16 Non-line-of-sight vehicle detecting means 18 Communicable vehicle information adding means 21 Relay means

Claims (3)

Transmitting means for transmitting information to a vehicle outside the host vehicle;
Receiving means for receiving information from a vehicle outside the host vehicle;
Relay means for relaying information received by the receiving means to a vehicle outside the own vehicle by the transmitting means;
A vehicle-to-vehicle communication device comprising:
Vehicle detection means for detecting a vehicle communicable with the vehicle;
Communicable vehicle information adding means for adding vehicle information detected by the own vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means to information transmitted to the outside by the transmitting means;
Another vehicle communicable vehicle detection means for detecting a vehicle communicable with the vehicle that has transmitted the information based on the information received by the receiving means;
Based on the comparison result between the vehicle information detected by the own vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means and the vehicle information detected by the other vehicle communicable vehicle detecting means, communication with the own vehicle is impossible and the information is transmitted. A non-line-of-sight vehicle detection means for detecting a vehicle communicable with the vehicle,
When the vehicle is detected by the non-line-of-sight vehicle detection unit, the transmission unit designates a vehicle that can communicate with the vehicle as a relay vehicle, and transmits information by the transmission unit.
The vehicle-to-vehicle communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the relay means relays when the own vehicle is instructed to relay information by the vehicle that has transmitted the information.   When the first vehicle is the own vehicle, the second vehicle is the vehicle detected by the non-line-of-sight vehicle detection means, and the third vehicle is the relay vehicle, the second vehicle receives When the information transmitted from the first vehicle and the information transmitted by relaying the third vehicle are the same information, the information is transmitted by the transmitting means without instructing the third vehicle as a relay vehicle. The vehicle-to-vehicle communication device according to claim 1, wherein:   When the first vehicle is the host vehicle, the second vehicle is a vehicle detected by the non-line-of-sight vehicle detection means, and the third vehicle is the relay vehicle, the second vehicle is 3. When receiving only information transmitted by relaying a third vehicle, the third vehicle is designated as a relay vehicle, and information is transmitted by the transmission means. The vehicle-to-vehicle communication device described.

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