JPH08162829A - Antenna diagnostic device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an antenna diagnostic device for vehicle with general-purpose features applicable to vehicle diversity reception systems of any control system. CONSTITUTION: The device is provided with an antenna fault diagnostic control circuit 10 having a count means counting number of times of selection for each of antennas 31, 32 within a prescribed time and having a discrimination means providing an output of a fault signal when the number of times of selection of each of the antennas 31, 32 counted by the count means is smaller than the preset selection number of times and with a fault display means 20 displaying a fact of a fault receiving the fault signal. Since a fault of an antenna is diagnosed based on the number of times of selection for each of antennas 31, 32, the diagnostic method is not affected by any diversity control system of a diversity system.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle antenna diagnosing device for diagnosing a plurality of antennas used in a vehicle diversity receiving system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a plurality of antennas of different types have been installed in a rear fender, a rear glass, etc. in a passenger car, and the reception voltage and current of each antenna are measured so that a good reception condition can be obtained. A diversity reception system for vehicles has been installed, which switches these plural antennas at any time based on data.

However, in such a vehicle diversity receiving system, at least one of the plurality of antennas is used.
If the antenna of the book is normal, the broadcast can be received for the time being, so even if the other antenna is broken, the failure is often not noticed.

Therefore, such a vehicle diversity receiving system is provided with a vehicle antenna diagnosing device for detecting a failure of the antenna. The diagnosing method is a receiving voltage or current measured in diversity control. It is general to make a diagnosis based on measurement data such as the amplitude and phase of (see JP-A-5-327658 and JP-A-57-162803).

[0005]

However, in such a vehicle antenna diagnosing device, since the diagnosing method is different for each diversity control method of the vehicle diversity receiving system as described above, a certain vehicle diversity receiving system is not provided. Although it can be directly applied, in order to apply it to other vehicle diversity receiving systems, it is necessary to add a dedicated diagnostic circuit separately, which has a drawback of lacking versatility.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle antenna diagnosing device having general versatility which can be applied to a vehicle diversity receiving system of any control system.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is directed to a plurality of antennas, a receiving means to which the antennas are connected, and an antenna for switching the connection state of each antenna to the receiving means. A vehicle antenna diagnostic apparatus for diagnosing an antenna failure in a diversity system, comprising switching means and diversity control means for controlling the antenna switching means to select the one antenna so as to obtain the best reception state, Counting means for counting the number of selections for each antenna within a predetermined time, and determination means for outputting a failure signal when the number of selections of each antenna counted by the counting means is smaller than a preset number of selections, Vehicle antenna diagnosis including failure display means for receiving a failure signal and displaying a failure display It is to provide a location.

The counting means may count the number of selections for each antenna only when the vehicle is traveling and when the receiving means is operating.

Further, the counting means removes the number of times each antenna is connected to the receiving means in order to search for the best reception state by the diversity control means from the total number of connections with the receiving means for each antenna. It is desirable to count the number of connections as the number of selections.

[0010]

In the vehicle antenna diagnosing device configured as described above, the number of selections of each antenna switched by the diversity control means within a predetermined time is counted by the counting means, and the counted number of selections of each antenna is When the number of times of selection is smaller than the preset number of times, the failure display means gives a failure display in response to the failure signal output from the determination means, so that it is not affected by the diversity control method of the diversity system.

Further, when the counting means counts the number of selections for each antenna only when the vehicle is traveling and when the receiving means is operating, the number of selection times for each antenna is stopped. Unnecessary count when it is impossible to distinguish whether or not there is a failure is eliminated.

Further, the counting means excludes the number of times each antenna is connected to the receiving means in order to search for the best reception state by the diversity control means from the total number of times of connection with the receiving means for each antenna. In the case where the number of connections is counted as the number of selections, unnecessary count is eliminated in determining whether or not the antenna is faulty.

[0013]

EXAMPLES Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, this vehicle antenna diagnostic device 1
Is for diagnosing whether or not there is a failure in a plurality of antennas used in the diversity system 2 mounted on a passenger car.

First, an overview of the diversity system 2 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. As shown in the figure, the diversity system 2 includes an antenna 30, a high frequency amplification unit 40, and a tuner unit 5 which are attached to a vehicle.
0, a low frequency amplifier 60 and a speaker 70.

The antenna 30 is a main antenna 31.
The main antenna 31 is attached to a rear fender of a passenger car, and the sub antenna 32 is attached to a rear glass. Although the number of antennas 30 is two in this embodiment, it is not particularly limited and may be two or more.

The high frequency amplifying section 40 is received by an antenna changeover switch 41 for selecting the main antenna 31 as an antenna changeover means, an antenna changeover switch 42 for selecting the sub antenna 32, a main antenna 31 and a sub antenna 32. And a high-frequency amplifier circuit 43 as a part of receiving means for amplifying a signal. And the other ends of the antenna changeover switches 41 and 42 are connected to the high frequency amplifier circuit 43.

The tuner section 50 includes a tuner circuit 51 as a part of receiving means for selecting a signal of a predetermined frequency set by a tuning button from the received signals, a tuning display means 52, and diversity. It is composed of a diversity control circuit 53 as a control means and an interface circuit 54 for exchanging signals between the diversity control circuit 53 and the tuner circuit 51.

The diversity control circuit 53 opens and closes the antenna changeover switches 41 and 42 of the high frequency amplification unit 40 based on the received voltage of the received signal selected by the tuner circuit 51 so as to obtain the best reception state. Then, the main antenna 31 and the sub antenna 32 are switched. In this embodiment, the antenna is switched based on the received voltage, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the antenna 30 may be switched based on lack of synchronization, AGC voltage, noise level, or the like. It may be switched.

Reference numeral 3 in FIG. 1 is an ignition switch, and 4 is a tuner power switch.

Next, the vehicle antenna diagnostic device 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle antenna diagnosing device 1 includes an antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 10 and a failure display means 20, and the antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 10 switches the antenna of the high frequency amplifier 40. When the failure of the antenna is diagnosed based on the switching signals of the switches 41 and 42, the antenna connection status signal from the antenna input connectors 33 and 34, the ON / OFF signal of the tuner power switch 4 and the vehicle speed signal, and the failure is diagnosed. A failure display signal is output to the failure display means 20.

The antenna connection status signal is output as follows. FIG. 3 (a)
As shown in FIG. 3, the antenna plug P has a ground portion Pa and a signal portion Ps, and this signal portion Ps is the antenna 3
It is electrically connected to 0. On the other hand, the antenna input connectors 33 and 34 have a first movable contact A, a second movable contact B, a first fixed contact C, and a second fixed contact D, as shown in FIG. In the state where P is not connected, the second movable contact B and the first fixed contact C
And the first movable contact A and the second fixed contact D are in contact with each other. Therefore, the line to the antenna changeover switches 41 and 42 is grounded via the second movable contact B, the first fixed contact C and the resistor Rl, and the power supply line is connected to the resistor Ra, the second fixed contact D and the first movable contact A. Grounded through. Therefore, the antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 1
No voltage is applied to the output terminal to 0, and the antenna connection state signal becomes L level.

On the other hand, in the state where the antenna plug P is connected, as shown in FIG. 3B, the first movable contact A contacts the ground portion Pa of the antenna plug P and the second movable contact B contacts. The second movable contact B and the first fixed contact C are in contact with the signal portion Ps of the antenna plug P, and the first movable contact A and the second fixed contact D are in non-contact with each other. Therefore, the lines to the antenna changeover switches 41, 42 are connected to the second movable contact B and the signal portion Ps of the antenna plug P.
The antenna 30 is connected to the antenna 30, and the power supply line is connected to the output terminal to the antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 10 via the resistor Ra. Therefore, a predetermined voltage is applied to the output terminal to the antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 10, and the antenna connection state signal becomes H level.

The circuit configuration of the antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 10 will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. The antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 10 uses the high-frequency amplifier circuit 43 of the main antenna 31 and the sub-antenna 32 based on the switching signals of the antenna changeover switches 41 and 42.
It is determined whether or not the connection state is valid, and if the connection state is valid, the detection means 11a and 11b that output a detection pulse assuming that the antenna is selected, and the detection pulse that the detection means 11a and 11b output are received. Counters 12a and 12b for counting the number of effective connections,
A timer 13 for setting a count time to be counted by the counters 12a and 12b, a count value counted by the counters 12a and 12b within the count time, the antenna connection state signal, an ON / OFF signal of the tuner power switch 4, The determination means 14 is configured to diagnose a failure of the antenna based on the vehicle speed signal and output a failure display signal to the failure display means 20 when the failure is diagnosed.

The above-mentioned effective connection state means a state in which the main antenna 31 or the sub antenna 32 and the tuner section 50 are connected, assuming that the diversity control circuit 53 is in the best reception state. In order to perform the search, the diversity control circuit 53 simply switches the antenna changeover switches 41 and 42 so that the main antenna 31 or the sub-antenna 32 and the tuner unit 5 are connected.
The state in which 0 is connected is not included.

In this embodiment, the main antenna 31 determines whether or not the connection state is valid, that is, whether or not it is selected.
Alternatively, the sub-antenna 32 and the tuner unit 50 are 2/60
It is judged by whether it is connected for more than a second.
That is, the state where the main antenna 31 or the sub antenna 32 and the tuner unit 50 are connected for 2/60 seconds or more is regarded as an effective connection state, and when the connection time is less than that, it is determined that the connection is made for the search. are doing. This is because general diversity control searches each antenna at time intervals of about 1/60 second. Therefore, the connection time as the reference is not limited to 2/60 seconds, and different connection times may be used as the determination reference depending on the diversity control.

The set time T1 of the timer 13 for setting the count time of the counters 12a and 12b is recommended to take a break after running for about 2 hours, so it is preferable to set it within 2 hours. You can set it to one hour.

Regarding the antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 10 configured as described above, with respect to the basic operation when the vehicle is traveling and the tuner power switch 4 is in the ON state, refer to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. And explain.

After the timer 13 is started in step S1, the process proceeds to step S2 and it is determined whether or not the main antenna 31 and the sub antenna 32 are connected to the antenna input connectors 33 and 34. Here, when it is determined that one of the antennas 30 is not connected,
After shifting to step S12 and resetting the timer 13, the process returns to step S1. Therefore, all antennas 30
Is not connected to the antenna input connectors 33 and 34, the antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 10 does not work. It should be noted that whether or not the antenna 30 is connected to the antenna input connectors 33 and 34 is displayed for each of the main antenna 31 and the sub antenna 32. On the other hand, in step S2, the main antenna 31,
If it is determined that the sub antenna 32 is connected, the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, it is determined whether the main antenna 31 has been selected. Here, if the main antenna 31 is selected, the detection pulse is output from the detection means 11a, so the counter 12a is incremented by 1 in step S13 and the process proceeds to step S4, but if not selected, it is counted as it is. Without it, the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, it is determined whether the sub antenna 32 is selected. Here, the sub antenna 3
If 2 is selected, the detection pulse is output from the detection means 11b, so the counter 12b is incremented by 1 in step S14 and the process proceeds to step S5, but if not selected, it is not counted and step S5 is performed. Move to.

Next, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the timer 13 has timed out. If the time has not expired, the process returns to step S2, but if the time has expired, the process proceeds to step S6.

In step S6, the judging means 14 judges whether the count value of the counter 12a is larger than a predetermined value a. Here, when the count value is larger than a, it is diagnosed that the main antenna 31 is normal,
Control goes to step S7. On the other hand, if the count value is equal to or smaller than a, the main antenna 31 is diagnosed as a failure, and the determination means 14 outputs a failure signal. Therefore, the failure display means 20 that has received the failure signal in step S15 After turning on the failure display LED of the main antenna 31, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, the judging means 14 judges whether the count value of the counter 12b is larger than the predetermined value a. Here, when the count value is larger than a, it is diagnosed that the sub antenna 32 is normal, and the process proceeds to step S8. On the other hand, if the count value is equal to or smaller than a, the sub-antenna 32 is diagnosed as a failure, and the determination means 14 outputs a failure signal. Therefore, the failure display means 20 that has received the failure signal in step S16 After the failure display LED of the sub antenna 32 is turned on, the process proceeds to step S8.

In this embodiment, the value a is set to 0. Therefore, if an antenna is not selected even once during the count time, it is determined that the antenna is out of order. The a value does not necessarily have to be set to 0. For example, when the accuracy of diversity control is poor,
Alternatively, it can be set to 2.

Next, in step S8, a failure display LED
Is lit, that is, one of the antennas 30
If there is no failure, the process proceeds to step S11. If it is determined that one of the antennas 30 has a failure, the process proceeds to step S9.

In step S9, it is determined whether or not the defective antenna 30 is detached from the antenna input connectors 33 and 34. Here, the antenna 30 which has been diagnosed as being defective is the antenna input connector 33, 3
If it is not removed from 4, the process returns to step S9 again. On the other hand, if the antenna 30 that has been diagnosed as having a failure is detached from the antenna input connectors 33 and 34, the process proceeds to step S10 and the failure display means 20.
Is reset to turn off the failure display LED. And
In step S11, the counters 12a, 12b
After resetting, move to step S12 and set timer 1
3 is reset, and the process returns to step S1.

The above is the outline of the basic operation of the antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 10. The relationship between the selection state of the antenna 30 and the failure judgment will be described in detail below with reference to the timing chart shown in FIG.

First, between the time when the timer 13 is started and the time when the timer 13 is started, the antenna changeover switches 41 and 42 of the main antenna 31 and the sub-antenna 32, respectively.
Is ON three times. At this time, since the ON time t ≧ 2/60 seconds, both the main antenna 31 and the sub antenna 32 are selected three times.

On the other hand, between the time point and the time point when the timer 13 times up, the antenna changeover switch 41 for each of the main antenna 31 and the sub antenna 32,
42 is ON twice, but ON time t <2/60
Since it is a second, the main antenna 31 and the sub antenna 32
Not recognized as co-selected.

Therefore, the main antenna 31 and the sub antenna 3 are provided between the timer start time and the time up time.
This means that both antennas have been selected three times, and since the preset number of times a = 0 is exceeded, both antennas are diagnosed as normal and the timer 13 is reset.

The timer 13 starts at the same time as it is reset at the time point, but immediately after that, the sub antenna 32 fails at the time point, and both antennas are disconnected from the antenna input connectors 33 and 34 at the time point. Then, the timer 13 and the counters 12a and 12b are reset.
Therefore, the main antenna 31 is selected twice between the time point and the time point, but this data is not used for diagnosis, and the time point when the timer 13 originally started at the time point is timed up. There is no failure diagnosis.

Then, the timer reset is repeated until both antennas are connected to the antenna input connectors 33 and 34, and the timer 13 is restarted from the point of time, so that the antenna 30 of the antenna 30 is restarted from this point of time. The number of selections is counted.

More specifically, first, the diversity control circuit 53 compares the reception states of the main antenna 31 and the sub antenna 32, and if the main antenna 31 in the optimum reception state is selected, the main antenna 31 is selected. The counter 12a of 1 counts as one selection. Next, when the reception state of the main antenna 31 deteriorates, the diversity control circuit 53 causes the sub antenna 3 to operate.
The reception state with the main antenna 31 and the sub-antenna 32 is switched to 2 and the reception state with the sub-antenna 32 is compared. If the main antenna 31 is selected again, at this time, the counter 12a of the main antenna 31 counts the number of selections as two times.

According to this timing chart, the main antenna 31 has been selected three times from the time point to the time point from, but the defective sub-antenna 32 has not been selected even once, so the sub-antenna is selected. 32 becomes equal to the preset number of times of selection a, and the determination means 14 diagnoses the sub-antenna 32 as a failure, and the failure display of the sub-antenna 32 is performed at the time.

Then, when the sub-antenna 32 which has failed at the time of is removed from the antenna input connector 34,
The failure display is canceled and the timer 13 and counter 1
2a and 12b are reset.

As described above, the basic operation described above is the operation of the antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 10 when the vehicle is traveling and the tuner power switch 4 is in the ON state, but the tuner power switch is in the OFF state. Since it is impossible to distinguish whether or not the antenna 30 is out of order at a certain time or when the vehicle is stopped, the timer 13 is stopped in this embodiment. The operating state of the timer 13 will be described below with reference to the timing charts shown in FIGS.

FIG. 7 shows the case where the tuner power switch 4 is turned on and off or the vehicle state changes in a state where the antenna 30 is connected to the antenna input connectors 33 and 34.

First, when the ACC power switch 3 is turned on, the timer 13 is reset, but at this point the timer 13 does not start and the tuner power switch 4 is turned on.
Then, the timer 13 is started only when the vehicle starts traveling, and the timer 13 is reset at every set time T1 of the timer 13.

After that, when the vehicle stops, the timer 13 stops counting, and when the vehicle starts traveling again, it starts counting again. At this time, the timing at which the timer 13 is reset is the time point at which the sum of the time TA until the vehicle stops after the timer 13 is reset and the time TB after the vehicle starts traveling again becomes T1. .

This is the same when the tuner power switch 4 is turned off while the vehicle is traveling, and the timer 1
After the 3 is reset, the tuner power switch 4 turns off.
The timer 13 is reset at the time when the sum of the time TC until the FF is turned on and the time TD after the tuner power switch 4 is turned on again becomes the above T1.

The vehicle is stopped after the timer 13 is reset, the tuner power switch 4 is turned off while the vehicle is stopped, the tuner power switch 4 is turned on after the vehicle starts running again, and then the vehicle power is turned on. When the tuner power switch 4 is turned off during traveling and then the vehicle is stopped, and when the vehicle starts traveling after the tuner power switch 4 is turned on while the vehicle is stopped, the vehicle is reset after the timer 13 is reset. Time TE until the vehicle stops, and OF after the tuner power switch 4 is turned on while the vehicle is running
Time until it is turned on TF and tuner power switch 4
The timer 13 is reset when the sum of the time TG and the time TG after the vehicle starts traveling in the state where is ON is T1.

That is, the tuner power switch 4 is turned on.
That is, the timer 13 counts only when the vehicle is traveling in the state where the vehicle is driven.

In FIG. 8, the tuner power switch 4 is turned on.
In the state, the state of the vehicle or the connection state of the antenna 30 to the antenna input connectors 33 and 34 changes.

As shown in the figure, when the main antenna 31 or the sub-antenna 32 is detached from the antenna input connector 33 or 34 while the vehicle is stopped and is connected again while the vehicle is stopped, the main antenna 31 or the sub-antenna is The timer 13 is forcibly reset when 32 is removed from the antenna input connector 33 or 34, and the timer 13 starts counting when the vehicle starts traveling.

When the antenna 30 is detached from the antenna input connectors 33 and 34 while the vehicle is stopped, the antenna 30 is detached from the antenna input connectors 33 and 34 as in the case described above. The timer 13 is forcibly reset at each time point, and even if both antennas 30 are connected together, the timer 13 does not start counting until the vehicle starts traveling.

In FIG. 9, the tuner power switch 4 is turned on.
In this state, the antenna 30 is attached to and detached from the antenna input connectors 33 and 34 when the vehicle is traveling.

As shown in the figure, the main antenna 31 or the sub antenna 32 is the antenna input connector 33 or 3.
The timer 13 is forcibly reset when it is removed from 4, and the timer 13 starts counting from the time when the main antenna 31 or the sub antenna 32 is connected to the antenna input connector 33 or 34.

Further, after the main antenna 31 is detached from the antenna input connector 33, the sub antenna 32 is detached from the antenna input connector 34, and then the main antenna 31 is connected to the antenna input connector 33, which is followed by the sub antenna. 32 is an antenna input connector 34
When the main antenna 31 or the sub-antenna 32 is connected to the antenna input connector 3,
Although the timer 13 is forcibly reset at the time when it is removed from 3 or 34, both the main antenna 31 and the sub antenna 32 have the antenna input connectors 33 and 3.
The timer 13 starts counting from the time point when it is connected to 4.

[0059]

As described above, the vehicle antenna diagnostic apparatus of the present invention counts the number of selections for each antenna switched by the diversity control means within a predetermined time by the counting means and selects the counted antennas. When the number of times is smaller than the preset number of times of selection, the failure display means performs the failure display in response to the failure signal output from the determination means, so that the diversity control system of the diversity system is not affected,
It can be directly applied to all diversity systems, improving versatility.

Further, if the accuracy of the diversity control is improved, the accuracy of the failure diagnosis is improved accordingly.
There is also an effect that it is possible to perform a failure diagnosis according to the accuracy of each diversity control.

Also, the counting means counts the number of selection times for each antenna only when the vehicle is traveling and the receiving means is operating,
The counting means selects the number of connections except the number of times each antenna and the receiving means are simply connected in order to search for the best reception state by the diversity control means from the total number of connections with the receiving means for each antenna. In the case of counting as the number of times, unnecessary count is eliminated in determining whether or not the antenna is faulty, so that the fault diagnosis accuracy is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an antenna failure diagnosis control circuit of the above.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a connected / unconnected state of the antenna plug and the antenna input connector of the same.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the above antenna failure diagnosis control circuit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the above antenna failure diagnosis control circuit.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the operation of the above antenna failure diagnosis control circuit.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing the operation of the above antenna failure diagnosis control circuit.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the operation of the above antenna failure diagnosis control circuit.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart showing the operation of the above antenna failure diagnosis control circuit.

[Description of Reference Signs] 1 vehicle antenna diagnosis device 10 antenna failure diagnosis control circuit 11a, 11b detection means 12a, 12b counter 13 timer 14 determination means 20 failure display means 30 antenna 31 main antenna 32 sub antenna 33, 34 antenna input connector 40 High frequency amplification section 41, 42 Antenna changeover switch 50 Tuner section 51 Tuner circuit 53 Diversity control circuit 60 Low frequency amplification section 70 Speaker

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of antennas, a receiving means to which the antennas are connected, an antenna switching means for switching a connection state of each of the antennas with respect to the receiving means, and the antenna switching means for controlling an optimum receiving state. A vehicle antenna diagnostic device for diagnosing an antenna failure in a diversity system having a diversity control means for selecting one antenna, and a counting means for counting the number of selections for each antenna within a predetermined time, The determination means outputs a failure signal when the number of selections of each antenna counted by the counting means is smaller than a preset number of selections, and a failure display means for receiving a failure signal and displaying a failure. Vehicle antenna diagnostic device. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the counting means counts the number of selections for each antenna only when the vehicle is traveling and when the receiving means is operating. Antenna diagnostic device. 3. The counting means excludes the number of times each antenna and the receiving means are simply connected in order to search for the best reception state by the diversity control means from the total number of times of connection with the receiving means for each antenna. The vehicle antenna diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of connections is counted as the number of selections.