Information processing apparatus

Abstract

The invention provides an information processing apparatus. Provided is an information processing device mounted on a vehicle. The present invention is provided with: a first communication module for communicating with a cellular communication network; a second communication module for communicating between the vehicles; and a control unit that executes: receiving communication status data relating to the status of communication with the cellular communication network from one or more other vehicles via the second communication module; and determining whether or not a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network on the basis of the communication status through the first communication module and the communication status data.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to communication technology. Background Art

[0002] Technology for detecting a failure in a cellular communication network has been developed. In this regard, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-169629 discloses a device for relaying emergency notification information using an inter-vehicle communication unit as an alternative notification unit when communication via a cellular communication network is not possible. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present disclosure aims to detect an obstruction occurring in a cellular communication network.

[0004] One mode of an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an information processing device mounted on a vehicle, wherein the information processing device includes:

[0005] A first communication module, used for communicating with a cellular communication network;

[0006] a second communication module for communicating between vehicles; and

[0007] Control Department, Execution:

[0008] receiving communication status data related to the status of communication with the cellular communication network from one or more other vehicles via the second communication module; and

[0009] Whether a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network is determined based on the status of communication via the first communication module and the communication status data.

[0010] Furthermore, as another aspect, there may be mentioned a method executed by the above-mentioned apparatus, a program for causing a computer to execute the method, or a computer-readable storage medium storing the program in a non-temporary manner.

[0011] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to detect an obstacle occurring in a cellular communication network. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like elements, and in which:

[0013] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the vehicle communication system according to the first embodiment.

[0014] Figure 2 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the vehicle-mounted device 10 .

[0015] Figure 3It is a software structure diagram of the vehicle-mounted device 10.

[0016] Figure 4 is an example of broadcast report data.

[0017] Figure 5A It is a flowchart of the process executed by the vehicle-mounted device 10.

[0018] Figure 5B It is a flowchart of the process executed by the vehicle-mounted device 10.

[0019] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of a vehicle communication system according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In recent years, the interconnection of automobiles has been developing, and the number of vehicles equipped with on-board devices having wireless communication functions has increased. For example, the on-board devices can provide various services to vehicle passengers by communicating with server devices (application servers, etc.) via a cellular communication network (also called a mobile phone network or a mobile communication network).

[0021] However, in such a system, if a failure occurs in the cellular communication network, communication will be completely impossible. Furthermore, the means of notifying the occurrence of the failure itself will be lost, so the vehicle occupants cannot even be notified of the communication failure.

[0022] The information processing device according to the present disclosure solves the above-mentioned problem by inferring that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network using a communication unit other than the cellular communication network.

[0023] A first aspect of the present disclosure provides an information processing device mounted on a vehicle, wherein the information processing device includes:

[0024] A first communication module, used for communicating with a cellular communication network;

[0025] a second communication module for communicating between vehicles; and

[0026] Control Department, Execution:

[0027] receiving communication status data related to the status of communication with the cellular communication network from one or more other vehicles via the second communication module; and

[0028] Whether a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network is determined based on the status of communication via the first communication module and the communication status data.

[0029] The first communication module is a communication module for communicating with a cellular communication network (mobile communication network). The first communication module is also referred to as a cellular communication module.

[0030] The second communication module is a communication module for communicating between vehicles via a network other than a cellular communication network. Typically, the second communication module can be a communication module for performing vehicle-to-vehicle communication (or V2X communication). Communication between vehicles can also be communication using a peer-to-peer network in which vehicles directly send and receive data to each other.

[0031] The control unit receives communication status data from other vehicles via the second communication module. The communication status data is data indicating the status of communication with the cellular communication network, and typically includes communication status, measurement values ​​associated with communication, etc. The communication status data received from other vehicles may also be stored in a storage device (storage unit).

[0032] The control unit can determine whether an obstacle has occurred in the cellular communication network based on the communication status via the first communication module and the communication status data received from other vehicles. For example, when the vehicle is unable to communicate via the first communication module, the control unit can refer to the communication status data received from other vehicles to infer whether an obstacle has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0033] According to the above structure, information related to the cellular communication network can be collected by means other than the cellular communication network. Therefore, even if the cellular communication network is unavailable, it can be inferred whether the cellular communication network itself is out of service or communication is not possible due to other factors.

[0034] Furthermore, when cellular communication becomes impossible, the control unit may generate communication status data by itself and broadcast it via the second communication module. This makes it possible to provide information to other vehicles.

[0035] It is also possible to determine whether an obstacle has occurred in the cellular communication network by totaling the number of other vehicles that cannot communicate normally with the cellular communication network. For example, it is possible to infer that an obstacle has occurred in the cellular communication network when a predetermined proportion or more of a plurality of other vehicles located nearby cannot communicate. In addition, it is also possible not to make this determination when the vehicle is not within the service area of ​​the cellular communication network.

[0036] The specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The hardware configuration, module configuration, functional configuration, etc. described in each embodiment are not intended to limit the technical scope of the disclosure to these unless otherwise specified. (First embodiment)

[0037] [System Overview]

[0038] Reference Figure 1, an overview of the vehicle communication system involved in the first embodiment is described. The vehicle communication system involved in this embodiment is configured to include a plurality of vehicles 1 and a vehicle-mounted device 10 mounted on the vehicle 1. In addition, the vehicle-mounted device 10 is connected to a predetermined server device 2 via a cellular communication network. There may also be a plurality of vehicles 1 and a plurality of server devices 2 included in the system.

[0039] The vehicle 1 is a networked vehicle capable of communicating with any server device through wireless communication. The vehicle 1 can provide various services by communicating with an external server device (e.g., the server device 2) via an onboard device 10 having a cellular function. Examples of the various services include navigation services, remote control services (e.g., remote control of air conditioning, etc.), in-car Wi-Fi (registered trademark) services, and emergency notification services. The vehicle 1 may also have components (e.g., ECU, onboard terminal, etc.) that provide these services in addition to the devices shown in the figure.

[0040] The vehicle-mounted device 10 is a device that communicates with a predetermined network in order to connect components (such as ECU, vehicle-mounted terminal, etc.) of the vehicle 1 and the server device 2. In the present embodiment, the vehicle-mounted device 10 is configured to be connectable to a predetermined cellular communication network. The vehicle-mounted device 10 may also be configured to have an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) for identifying a user in the cellular communication network. The eUICC may be a physical SIM card or an eSIM.

[0041] In the example shown in the figure, the vehicle-mounted device 10 is configured to be able to communicate with a cellular communication network. The cellular communication network includes a control device for managing base stations and mobile communication terminals.

[0042] In addition, as shown in the figure, in a method where the vehicle-mounted device 10 communicates with other server devices via a cellular communication network, if a communication failure occurs in the cellular communication network, the communication may be disconnected. For example, if a failure occurs in the wireless access network, the radio waves from the base station may not be captured. In addition, if a failure occurs in the core network, the communication with the Internet may be disconnected.

[0043] However, when communication via the cellular communication network fails in the vehicle-mounted device 10 alone, it is impossible to determine whether the cause lies in the cellular communication network (eg, whether a communication failure has occurred) or lies elsewhere (eg, the own device).

[0044] In order to solve this problem, in this embodiment, a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 10 generate and broadcast data related to the communication status with the cellular communication network, and other vehicle-mounted devices 10 that receive the data accumulate the data. Thus, the vehicle-mounted device 10 can understand "whether other vehicles in the vicinity are communicating normally with the cellular communication network", and based on this, it can be estimated whether there is a communication failure.

[0045] In the following description, a communication failure refers to a failure occurring in a radio access network or a core network, which results in a failure in normal communication via a cellular communication network.

[0046] The vehicle-mounted device 10 is equipped with a first communication module for communicating with a cellular communication network and a second communication module for inter-vehicle communication. The vehicle-mounted device 10 can exchange data related to the status of communication with the cellular communication network between vehicles via the second communication module. The second communication module can adopt any communication standard as long as it can communicate between vehicles. Preferably, the second communication module preferably uses a standard that can broadcast data.

[0047] [Hardware structure]

[0048] Next, the hardware configuration of each device constituting the system will be described. Figure 2 It is a diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of hardware included in the vehicle-mounted device 10 according to the present embodiment.

[0049] The vehicle-mounted device 10 can be configured as a computer having a processor (central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), etc.), a main storage device (random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), etc.), and an auxiliary storage device (erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), hard disk drive, removable media, etc.). In the auxiliary storage device, an operating system (OS), various programs, various tables, etc. are stored. By executing the program stored in the auxiliary storage device, various functions (software modules) that meet the predetermined purpose as described later can be realized. However, part or all of the functions can also be realized as hardware modules through hardware circuits such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGA).

[0050] The in-vehicle device 10 includes a control unit 11 , a storage unit 12 , a wireless communication module 13 , an inter-vehicle communication module 14 , and a CAN communication module 15 .

[0051] The control unit 11 is a computing unit that realizes various functions of the vehicle-mounted device 10 by executing a predetermined program. The control unit 11 can be realized by a hardware processor such as a CPU, etc. The control unit 11 can also be configured to include a RAM, a ROM, a cache memory, etc.

[0052] The storage unit 12 is a means for storing information, and is composed of a storage medium such as a RAM, a magnetic disk, a flash memory, etc. The storage unit 12 stores a program executed by the control unit 11, data used by the program, and the like.

[0053] The wireless communication module 13 is a communication device that performs wireless communication with a predetermined network. In the present embodiment, the wireless communication module 13 is configured to be able to communicate with a predetermined cellular communication network.

[0054] The wireless communication module 13 can be configured to include an eUICC (for example, a SIM card). The SIM card is configured as a microcomputer including a CPU and a storage device. The SIM card stores information for connecting to a cellular communication network and receiving authentication.

[0055] The inter-vehicle communication module 14 is a communication device for wireless communication between vehicles. The inter-vehicle communication module 14 can communicate using a frequency band allocated for ITS, for example. The vehicle-mounted device 10 can communicate with the vehicle-mounted device 10 installed in other vehicles via the inter-vehicle communication module 14. The communication standard used by the inter-vehicle communication module 14 can be a standard that allows one-to-one communication or a standard that allows broadcasting of arbitrary data.

[0056] The controller area network (CAN) communication module 15 is a communication interface for connecting the vehicle-mounted device 10 to the in-vehicle network of the vehicle 1. The CAN communication module 15 can be configured to include a network interface for communicating using the CAN protocol. The vehicle-mounted device 10 can communicate data with other components of the vehicle 1 (such as an ECU, a vehicle-mounted terminal, etc.) via the CAN communication module 15.

[0057] [Software Structure]

[0058] Next, the software configuration of each device constituting the system will be described. Figure 3 It is a diagram schematically showing the software configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 10 according to the present embodiment.

[0059] In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 of the vehicle-mounted device 10 is configured to include three software modules, namely, a communication control unit 111, a reporting unit 112, and an obstacle determination unit 113. Each software module may also be realized by the control unit 11 (CPU, etc.) executing a program stored in the storage unit 12. In addition, information processing performed by the software module is synonymous with information processing performed by the control unit 11 (CPU, etc.).

[0060] The communication control unit 111 establishes a network connection with the outside of the vehicle in response to a request from a vehicle component of the vehicle 1. For example, the communication control unit 111 receives a connection request for a specific server device (e.g., server device 2) from a vehicle component of the vehicle 1, and establishes a communication path to the server device 2 in response to the connection request. The communication control unit 111 may establish a connection to a cellular communication network using a built-in SIM card or the like, and maintain the connection. In addition, the communication control unit 111 may establish a communication path to the server device 2 using the established connection.

[0061] Furthermore, the communication control unit 111 relays data transmitted and received between the vehicle component and the server device 2 .

[0062] The reporting unit 112 generates data related to the status of communication with the cellular communication network, and periodically broadcasts the data to other vehicles. Hereinafter, the data generated and transmitted by the reporting unit 112 is referred to as reporting data. Reporting data is an example of "communication status data". For example, the reporting unit 112 measures one or more values ​​related to the quality of cellular communication, generates and broadcasts reporting data including these values.

[0063] Figure 4 : is a diagram showing the structure of report data. As shown in the figure, the report data has fields such as date and time, location information, vehicle identification number (VIN), and measurement value. The date and time field is a field for storing the date and time when the report data is generated. The location information field is a field for storing data (latitude, longitude, etc.) indicating the location of the vehicle 1. The VIN field is a field for storing an identifier that uniquely identifies the vehicle that generated the report data.

[0064] The measured value is a numerical value related to the quality of cellular communication. In this embodiment, the following items are exemplified as the measured values.

[0065] ･Received Signal Strength Indicator(RSSI)

[0066] Received power of radio waves sent from the base station [dBm]

[0067] ･Reference Signal Received Power(RSRP)

[0068] Received power in the frequency band of the reference signal [dBm]

[0069] ･Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ)

[0070] Indicator indicating the quality of the received reference signal [dB]

[0071] ･Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR)

[0072] The power ratio of the desired signal to other signals in the received signal [dB]

[0073] In addition, the above four items, i.e., the measured values ​​related to the state of the radio waves, are exemplified here, but other values ​​may be included in the measured values ​​as long as it is possible to determine whether normal communication with the cellular communication network can be performed. As such values, for example, packet loss rate, response speed (ping value), etc. may be exemplified.

[0074] The reporting unit 112 periodically generates and broadcasts such reporting data. The reporting data broadcasted by the reporting unit 112 is received by the vehicle-mounted device 10 of another vehicle and stored.

[0075] The obstacle determination unit 113 performs a process of determining whether an obstacle has occurred in the cellular communication network using the report data received from other vehicles when instructed by the communication control unit 111. For example, when the communication control unit 111 cannot normally communicate with the cellular communication network, the communication control unit 111 issues the above instruction to cause the obstacle determination unit 113 to perform the above process.

[0076] As described above, the report data broadcasted from other vehicles is accumulated in the storage unit 12 of the vehicle-mounted device 10. By referring to this data, it is possible to determine whether the surrounding vehicles are also in a state where communication is impossible or only the own vehicle is in a state where communication is impossible for some reason. In addition, it is possible to determine that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0077] For example, it can be determined as follows whether a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0078] (A) A predetermined percentage or more of the other vehicles are unable to communicate.

[0079] For example, when more than half of the vehicles in the vicinity are in a communication-disabled state, it can be determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0080] (B) The measurements showing outliers are matched between the own vehicle and other vehicles

[0081] Depending on the type of the obstacle, different phenomena may occur, such as "the strength of the radio wave from the base station is reduced" or "the data packet cannot be sent despite the strength of the radio wave". Therefore, the measured values ​​showing abnormal values ​​are extracted from the measured values ​​included in the report data. Here, when the same measured value in the own vehicle and other vehicles shows an abnormal value, it can be determined that an obstacle has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0082] (C) When the communication is no longer possible, the vehicle is matched with another vehicle.

[0083] For example, when it is recorded that the own vehicle and another vehicle are both unable to communicate at a certain time, it can be determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network at that time.

[0084] (D) Communication is disabled within the service area of ​​the cellular communication network

[0085] When the communication is disabled within the service area of ​​the cellular communication network, it can be determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0086] When determining that a communication failure has occurred, the failure determination unit 113 may execute an action to deal with the failure (recovery action). For example, the failure determination unit 113 may notify the vehicle occupant that a service cannot be used due to the communication failure.

[0087] In addition, the recovery action may also be the provision of information for restoring communication. For example, in the case where an alternative communication path can be used under a carrier other than the communication carrier where the communication failure occurred, the vehicle occupants may be guided on how to use or set up the alternative communication path. For example, guidance may be provided on how to enable communication by switching to a communication module of another communication carrier or on how to enable communication by using an online connection.

[0088] [flow chart]

[0089] Next, the processing executed by the vehicle-mounted device 10 will be described in detail. Figure 5A is a flowchart of a process in which the vehicle-mounted device 10 generates and broadcasts report data. Figure 5B 1 is a flowchart of the process of the vehicle-mounted device 10 performing a determination on a cellular communication network failure based on the received report data. Figure 5A as well as Figure 5B Processing shown.

[0090] Describes the processing of broadcast report data.

[0091] First, in S11, the reporting unit 112 obtains one or more measurement values ​​related to the communication with the cellular communication network. The measurement values ​​may be values ​​measured in layers 1, 2, and 3 in the cellular communication protocol stack, for example.

[0092] Next, in S12 , the reporting unit 112 generates and broadcasts report data including the acquired measurement value. The report data is received by other vehicles 1 that are present within a predetermined range around the vehicle 1 .

[0093] Next, a description will be given of a process for making a determination regarding a failure in the cellular communication network.

[0094] First, in S21, the communication control unit 111 determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the communication via the cellular communication network. For example, when the throughput continues to be lower than a predetermined value, the communication control unit 111 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the communication via the cellular communication network. In addition, for example, when the response time from the server exceeds a predetermined value, the communication control unit 111 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the communication via the cellular communication network. In addition, for example, when a correct response from the server is not obtained, the communication control unit 111 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the communication via the cellular communication network.

[0095] If an abnormality occurs in the communication via the cellular communication network, the communication control unit 111 instructs the failure determination unit 113 to determine the failure, and the process shifts to S22. If no abnormality occurs in the communication via the cellular communication network, the process ends.

[0096] In S22 , the failure determination unit 113 refers to the report data stored in the storage unit 12 to determine whether a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0097] In this step, an evaluation value indicating the likelihood (probability) of the occurrence of a communication failure may be calculated, and the determination may be made based on the evaluation value. For example, the likelihood may be calculated based on the following criteria.

[0098] (Criteria 1) The likelihood increases as more other vehicles experience abnormalities in communication with the cellular communication network.

[0099] (Criterion 2) The more other vehicles have abnormal evaluation values ​​similar to the abnormal evaluation value in the own vehicle, the greater the likelihood is.

[0100] (Criteria 3) The time when a certain evaluation value starts to show abnormality is determined. The more other vehicles that start to show abnormality with the same evaluation value after that time, the higher the likelihood is.

[0101] In addition, report data received a certain time ago in relation to the freshness of the information may not be used for determination in S22. For example, report data received more than 5 minutes ago may not be used for determination.

[0102] Alternatively, the measured value may be weighted according to the time elapsed since the report data was received. For example, the shorter the time elapsed since the report data was received, the greater the weight given to the measured value, and the shorter the time elapsed since the report data was received, the smaller the weight given to the measured value.

[0103] Furthermore, when the host vehicle is not within the service area of ​​the cellular communication network, the calculation of likelihood (determination of the presence or absence of an obstacle) itself may not be performed.

[0104] Here, when the calculated likelihood exceeds a predetermined threshold, it can be determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0105] In addition, here, the presence or absence of an obstacle is determined by comparing the likelihood and the threshold value, but the presence or absence of an obstacle may be determined by other conditions.

[0106] For example, the ratio of other vehicles that cannot communicate normally with the cellular communication network to the total number may be calculated, and when the ratio exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network. The total number may be the number of vehicles with which communication is established or the number of vehicles estimated to be within a predetermined range centered on the vehicle.

[0107] If it is determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network (S23-Yes), the process proceeds to S24. If it is not determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network, the process ends.

[0108] In S24, a recovery action is performed according to the result of the determination. The recovery action refers to an action for dealing with the communication failure, including, for example, notifying that a communication failure has occurred, guiding an alternative communication unit, etc. For example, in the case where a new communication line can be secured by inserting a communication module of another carrier into the vehicle-mounted device, this method can also be guided.

[0109] Furthermore, as one of the recovery actions, the failure determination unit 113 may report to other vehicles that “the vehicle has determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network.” For example, the result of the determination performed in S22 may be included in the report data to be sent next time or later.

[0110] If the calculated likelihood is lower than a predetermined value (S23-No), it is estimated that communication is not possible due to reasons other than a failure of the cellular communication network. In this case, the vehicle-mounted device 10 is suspected to be faulty, so information guiding a support window such as a call center may be output.

[0111] As described above, in the vehicle communication system involved in the first embodiment, each of the plurality of vehicles exchanges data related to the status of communication with the cellular communication network, and when a communication failure is suspected, the data is used to determine whether there is a communication failure. According to the above structure, information for determining the occurrence of a communication failure can be shared between vehicles, and the accuracy of detecting the occurrence of a failure can be improved.

[0112] (Variation 1 of the First Embodiment)

[0113] In the first embodiment, report data is broadcast periodically from normal times, each vehicle accumulates it, and based on this, when a communication failure is suspected, the accumulated report data is used to determine the communication failure. However, the report data may be broadcast only when a communication failure is suspected. In this case, the failure to receive report data from other vehicles means that cellular communication can be performed normally in other vehicles.

[0114] In this modification, for example, before executing S22, the reporting unit 112 generates and broadcasts reporting data. When reporting data is not received from other vehicles, it is not determined that a communication failure has occurred, but when reporting data is gradually accumulated, the same determination as in the first embodiment is performed.

[0115] (Variation 2 of the first embodiment)

[0116] In the first embodiment, the report data is transmitted and received between vehicles by inter-vehicle communication, but the report data may be transmitted and received by a communication means other than inter-vehicle communication such as V2X communication via an infrastructure, for example.

[0117] For example, in the case where the vehicle-mounted device 10 has a communication module for road-to-vehicle communication, the vehicle-mounted device 10 may send report data to a roadside unit (RoadSideUnit), and the roadside unit may send the report data to other vehicles. The roadside unit may resend the report data received from any vehicle to other vehicles, or may generate statistical data based on the report data received from multiple vehicles, and send the generated statistical data to other vehicles. The statistical data may, for example, be data indicating the proportion of vehicles that cannot communicate normally relative to the whole. In addition, the statistical data may also be statistical data indicating the measurement values ​​measured by each vehicle. Other vehicles can identify that communication abnormalities have occurred in other vehicles based on the statistical data. (Second embodiment)

[0118] In the first embodiment, the vehicle-mounted device 10 determines whether or not a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network based only on the report data received from other vehicles.

[0119] On the other hand, when there are multiple communication carriers, other vehicles that receive the report data may be able to perform cellular communication. For example, if a failure occurs in communication carrier A, communication can be performed normally in communication carrier B. In this case, the vehicle that can use communication carrier B transmits the received report data to an external server device, and a determination regarding the occurrence of the failure may be made with high accuracy.

[0120] Figure 6 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle communication system in accordance with a second embodiment. A vehicle 1A includes a vehicle-mounted device 10A that communicates via a communication carrier A. A vehicle 1B includes a vehicle-mounted device 10B that communicates via a communication carrier B.

[0121] Here, it is assumed that a failure occurs in the communication carrier A. The vehicle 1A (vehicle-mounted device 10A) broadcasts the report data by the method described in the first embodiment, and the vehicle 1B (vehicle-mounted device 10B) receives the report data. The vehicle-mounted device 10B can perform cellular communication via the communication carrier B, so the report data sent from the vehicle-mounted device 10A can be transmitted to an external server device (referred to as the server device 3). In this way, the server device 3 can collect the report data sent from the vehicle affected by the failure via the communication carrier B.

[0122] In the second embodiment, the report data may include an identifier for identifying a communication carrier. When the vehicle-mounted device 10B receives report data including an identifier for a communication carrier other than the communication carrier used by the vehicle-mounted device 10B, the vehicle-mounted device 10B may transmit the report data to the server device 3 .

[0123] The server device 3 analyzes the collected report data and generates the result (analysis data). The analysis data may be data indicating the likelihood of a failure occurring in the communication carrier A. The analysis data may also be data for assisting the determination made by the vehicle 1A.

[0124] The analysis data is transmitted to the vehicle 1B via the communication carrier B, and reaches the vehicle 1A via the inter-vehicle communication.

[0125] As described above, according to the second embodiment, the result of the analysis performed by the server device 3 can be transmitted to the vehicle 1A, thereby making it possible to perform a more accurate determination regarding a failure in the vehicle 1A.

[0126] In the above example, the server device 3 generates analysis data using the report data, but the server device 3 may obtain data other than the report data and may generate data other than the analysis data. For example, the server device 3 may obtain fault information from a device associated with the communication carrier A and transmit the fault information to the vehicle 1B and the vehicle 1A instead of the analysis data. In addition, when the server device 3 suspects that a fault has occurred in the communication carrier A, it may notify the device associated with the communication carrier A.

[0127] Furthermore, when it is determined that a failure has occurred in communication carrier A, server device 3 may issue authentication information (SIM profile) that can be temporarily used in an alternative communication carrier. Figure 6 In the example of FIG. 1 , the server device 3 may also generate a SIM profile that can be temporarily used in the communication carrier B and transmit it to the vehicle 1A via the vehicle 1B. The SIM profile can be, for example, a SIM profile that can be used only for a certain period of time. According to the above configuration, an alternative communication path can be provided to the vehicle 1A.

[0128] (Variation)

[0129] The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and the present disclosure can be implemented with appropriate changes without departing from the gist of the disclosure.

[0130] For example, the processes and units described in the present disclosure can be implemented in combination as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

[0131] In the description of the embodiment, each vehicle transmits the report data to other vehicles by broadcasting, but the report data may be transmitted by other means as long as it is multicast communication.

[0132] In addition, a process described as being performed by one device may be shared and executed by multiple devices. Alternatively, a process described as being performed by different devices may be executed by one device. In a computer system, it is possible to flexibly change what hardware structure (server structure) is used to implement each function.

[0133] The present disclosure can also be implemented by supplying a computer program that implements the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and one or more processors of the computer read out and execute the program. Such a computer program can be provided to the computer via a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium that can be connected to the system bus of the computer, or it can be provided to the computer via a network. Non-temporary computer-readable storage media include, for example, any type of disk (floppy disk (floppy (registered trademark) disk), hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), optical disk (CD-ROM, DVD disk / Blu-ray disk, etc.). In addition, non-temporary computer-readable storage media include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic card, flash memory, optical card, and any type of medium suitable for storing electronic commands.

Claims

1. An information processing device, mounted on a vehicle, wherein: The information processing device comprises: A first communication module, used for communicating with a cellular communication network; a second communication module for communicating between vehicles; and Control Department, Execution: receiving communication status data related to the status of communication with the cellular communication network from one or more other vehicles via the second communication module; and Whether a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network is determined based on the status of communication via the first communication module and the communication status data.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein: The control unit accumulates the communication status data received from the other vehicle in a storage unit, and when an abnormality occurs in the communication via the first communication module, performs the determination based on the accumulated communication status data.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein: The control unit generates the communication status data and broadcasts the communication status data via the second communication module when an abnormality occurs in the communication via the first communication module.

4. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The control unit: calculating the ratio of other vehicles that cannot normally communicate with the cellular communication network based on the communication status data received from the plurality of other vehicles, When the ratio exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network.

5. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The control unit: calculating the ratio of other vehicles that cannot normally communicate with the cellular communication network based on the communication status data received from the plurality of other vehicles, When the host vehicle is within the service area of ​​the cellular communication network and the ratio exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network.

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