Roadside machine

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a roadside device capable of cooperating with an external service associated with personal information of a mobile user. A roadside machine (10) is provided with: a sensor (11) that detects the behavior of a moving body (20); and a wireless communication unit (12) that receives the discrimination information and the behavior history from the moving body (20), and that further receives personal information of a user of the moving body (20) from the moving body (20) when a condition is satisfied, the condition including a predetermined correlation between the received behavior history and the detection result of the sensor.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to roadside equipment. Background Technology

[0002] In recent years, roadside units capable of communicating with vehicles have been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which a roadside unit equipped with a communication unit and a control unit and capable of wireless communication with vehicles traveling on the main road or merging lanes of a road receives vehicle identification information from a vehicle-mounted device and appearance information related to the appearance of the vehicle, and compares the sensing and detection information of the roadside unit with the appearance information received through communication.

[0003] Existing technical documents

[0004] Patent documents

[0005] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2022-164499

[0006] The vehicle identification information, serving as the vehicle's identification information, is a unique value and therefore will not be duplicated with the vehicle identification information of other vehicles. On the other hand, when the vehicle system is restarted by turning the ignition on / off, the vehicle identification information is changed to a different number. Therefore, the vehicle identification information cannot be used to identify the driver. Furthermore, in technologies such as ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) Connect, which are used for wireless communication with vehicles, since the communication is broadcast, it is theoretically impossible to record information that directly identifies an individual in the wireless communication message. Therefore, it is impossible to include the mobile user's personal information (e.g., the mobile user's user ID, username, etc. in the external service) in the wireless communication message and send it as is for the purpose of collaborating with external services that have established association with driver information.

[0007] Therefore, conventional roadside units cannot identify the user (driver) of a moving vehicle. Furthermore, it is difficult to use onboard units to identify information obtained through wireless communication with the vehicle and to collaborate with external services that link this information with the user's personal information. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The purpose of this disclosure, made in view of this situation, is to provide a roadside vehicle that can collaborate with external services that are associated with the personal information of mobile users.

[0009] The purpose of this disclosure for resolving the above problems is as follows.

[0010] (1) A roadside unit comprising: a sensor for detecting the behavior of a mobile body; and a wireless communication unit for receiving identification information and behavior history from the mobile body, the wireless communication unit being configured to: further receive personal information of the user of the mobile body from the mobile body when certain conditions are met, the conditions including that the received behavior history has a predetermined correlation with the detection result of the sensor.

[0011] (2) The roadside unit according to (1) includes: a control unit that, when the conditions are met, starts an application program, and the wireless communication unit is configured to send a message specified by the application program to the mobile body with the identification information as the destination.

[0012] (3) The roadside unit according to (2), wherein the wireless communication unit is configured to receive encrypted personal information of the user of the mobile body from the mobile body when the application requests personal information.

[0013] (4) The roadside machine according to (3), wherein the personal information is the user ID of the user of the mobile body required when using the application.

[0014] (5) The roadside machine according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the mobile body is a vehicle and the identification information is identification information of a vehicle-mounted device mounted on the mobile body.

[0015] Invention Effects

[0016] According to this disclosure, external service collaborations can be established with the personal information of mobile users. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of a communication system according to one implementation method.

[0018] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing steps of a roadside machine in one implementation method.

[0019] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing steps of a moving body in one embodiment.

[0020] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0021] 1: Communication system; 10: Roadside unit; 11: Sensor; 12: Wireless communication unit; 13: Communication unit; 14: Control unit; 20: Mobile unit; 21: V2X wireless communication unit; 22: Control unit; 30: Communication network; 40: Server. Detailed Implementation

[0022] Figure 1 The communication system 1 shown in one embodiment includes a roadside unit 10, one or more mobile vehicles 20, and a server 40 connected to a communication network 30 such as the Internet. The server 40 may be a database server.

[0023] The roadside unit 10 is installed on poles such as traffic lights and utility poles. The roadside unit 10 includes a sensor 11, a wireless communication unit 12, a communication unit 13, and a control unit 14.

[0024] Sensor 11 senses and detects the surrounding environment, detecting the behavior of the moving object 20. Sensor 11 can be a visible light camera, an infrared camera, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), etc., and the type of sensor is not limited. Furthermore, sensor 11 can also be composed of multiple sensors.

[0025] The wireless communication unit 12 communicates with the mobile body 20, receiving identification information and behavioral history. The identification information may be, for example, identification information from a vehicle-mounted device installed on the mobile body 20. The behavioral history may be, for example, location information. Under certain conditions, the wireless communication unit 12 also receives personal information of the user of the mobile body 20 from the mobile body 20, wherein the received behavioral history has a predetermined correlation with the detection results of the sensor 11 (e.g., the behavioral history is substantially consistent).

[0026] The communication unit 13 is connected to the communication network 30 wirelessly or via wired connection to communicate with the server 40.

[0027] When a predetermined correlation is found between the behavioral history received by the wireless communication unit 12 and the results detected by the sensor 11, the control unit 14 initiates the prescribed application. The wireless communication unit 12 sends a message specified by the application to the mobile device 20 with identification information as the destination. If the application requests personal information, the wireless communication unit 12 receives encrypted personal information of the user of the mobile device 20 from the mobile device 20. The personal information may be, for example, the user ID of the user of the mobile device 20 required when using the application.

[0028] The mobile body 20 is, for example, a car, truck, bus, or other vehicle. The mobile body 20 includes a V2X (Vehicle to X) wireless communication unit 21 and a control unit 22 that processes communication information. The mobile body 20 may also include an HMI (Human Machine Interface) unit that provides information to the driver based on the information processed by the control unit 22.

[0029] <Handling of roadside machines>

[0030] Reference Figure 2 The processing of the roadside unit 10 will be explained. When a nearby mobile body 20 is detected by sensor 11 (S101 – Yes) and communication is established with the mobile body 20 via wireless communication unit 12 (S102 – Yes), the roadside unit 10 compares the behavior history obtained through communication with the behavior history detected by the sensor via control unit 14 (S103). If no communication is established with the mobile body 20 (S102 – No), the roadside unit 10 may either perform no processing or upload the information (category, behavior, etc.) of the mobile body 20 detected in S101 to server 40 (S104). If the behavior history matches (S105 – Yes), control unit 14 establishes an association between the identification information of the mobile body 20 (e.g., vehicle identification information). Then, when the mobile body 20 identified in S105 is distinguished from other mobile bodies 20, it is designated as mobile body 20a.

[0031] The control unit 14 analyzes / determines the behavior of the identified mobile body 20a (S106). Alternatively, if the behavior category does not meet certain conditions (S107 - No), the control unit 14 terminates the process. If the behavior category meets certain conditions (S107 - Yes), the control unit 14 initiates a qualified application. Furthermore, if the initiated application is a request-response application and the response message contains information that would be inappropriate if received by a subject other than the roadside unit 10 and the mobile body 20 (information that cannot be used in plaintext), the control unit 14 generates encryption information (e.g., a public key) required to encrypt the response information in a form that cannot be decrypted by communication receivers other than the roadside unit 10 and the mobile body 20a, and includes it in the transmission message (S108). In addition, the control unit 14 generates decryption information (e.g., a private key) capable of decrypting the response information and stores it in the storage unit (not shown) of the roadside unit 10 (S108). It should be noted that the "encryption" in S108 is different from the encryption of V2X wireless communication itself. It is encryption performed to further hide a part of the information contained in the wireless communication message from other media that can receive V2X wireless communication through broadcast communication.

[0032] The wireless communication unit 12 sends a message specified by the application to the mobile body 20a (S109). The wireless communication unit 12 excludes other mobile bodies 20 capable of receiving V2X wireless communication from receiving post-processing by using the identification information of the mobile body 20a as the transmission destination, thus ensuring that the transmission message only reaches the mobile body 20a. Furthermore, the wireless communication unit 12 enables the receiver to identify the application being launched by establishing a flag (hereinafter referred to as the "application identification flag") within the transmission message to identify the type of the launched application. The transmission message also contains a message requesting a response from the mobile body 20a.

[0033] When the wireless communication unit 12 receives a response message from the mobile body 20 (S110), the control unit 14 verifies the identification information contained in the response message. If the identification information matches the sending destination (S111 - Yes), the mobile body 20 is identified as the identified mobile body 20a. If the response message contains encrypted unusable plaintext information (encrypted text), the control unit 14 decrypts the unusable plaintext information using the decryption information stored in S108 (S112). Then, the control unit 14 associates the behavior analysis information with the unusable plaintext information (S113). The control unit 14 may also associate the identification information of the mobile body 20a. The control unit 14 verifies the application identification flag contained in the response message, and the communication unit 13 accumulates the data corresponding to the application in the database of the corresponding server 40 via the communication network 30 (S114).

[0034] <Moving Body>

[0035] Reference Figure 3 The processing of mobile unit 20 will be explained below. V2X wireless communication unit 21 receives wireless communication from roadside unit 10 (S201). If the received information includes identification information as the destination, control unit 22 compares this information with its own identification information (S202). If they match (S202 - Yes), it is communication destined for itself, and further processing begins; if they do not match (S202 - No), the received information is read and discarded (S203). If the received information in S201 does not contain a destination, mobile unit 20 performs broadcast communication reception processing. That is, mobile unit 20 does not perform further processing, but it also does not read and discard the received information.

[0036] If the received information contains an application identification flag, the control unit 22 reads the flag and launches the application corresponding to the flag (S204).

[0037] If the launched application is an application requesting a response to the roadside unit 10 (S205 - Yes), the control unit 22 determines whether the response content contains information with unusable plaintext (S206). If the launched application is not an application requesting a response to the roadside unit 10 (S205 - No), the control unit 22 performs processing corresponding to the application's instructions.

[0038] If the response contains unusable plaintext information (S206 - Yes), the control unit 22 encrypts the unusable plaintext information using encryption information contained in the message received from the roadside unit 10 (S207). Then, the V2X wireless communication unit 21 includes the encrypted unusable plaintext information (encrypted text) in the response message and sends it with the communicator identification information of the roadside unit 10 as the destination (S208). By performing the processing in S207, the unusable plaintext information can be hidden from other media capable of receiving V2X wireless communication that broadcast and receive the unusable plaintext information, and the unusable plaintext information can be transmitted to the roadside unit 10.

[0039] By performing the above processing, the roadside unit 10 can identify the personal information of the user of the mobile body 20, rather than the vehicle identification information that usually changes every time the vehicle body 20 is activated, and associate this personal information with the behavioral information of the mobile body 20 and accumulate it in the database. Therefore, it can perform various collaborations between the mobile body behavioral information and external services that were previously difficult to achieve.

[0040] When encrypted information is included in the message sent from the roadside unit 10, the encryption method is arbitrary; for example, public-key encryption can be used. The issuance of the private / public key can be performed either through edge computing by the control unit 14 or by using internet computing resources via fiber optic communication from the roadside unit 10.

[0041] Furthermore, as an encryption method, a hybrid key encryption method can also be used. In this case, it is also possible to consider the roadside unit 10 issuing a public key and the mobile unit 20 issuing a common key. In this case, the following method can be considered: a request to issue a common key from the roadside unit 10 to the mobile unit 20 for hybrid key encryption can be included in the initial transmission message, and the common key can be issued on the mobile unit 20 side using this request as a trigger.

[0042] This invention can be applied to a points-granting service that provides points to mobile users based on the type of mobile entity, the behavior of the mobile entity, etc. (for example, a service that grants points upon taking legal action). An example will be described below.

[0043] In S108, the roadside unit 10 generates encryption information for requesting that personal information (username and user ID) used for credit-based service be recorded in a response message, and decryption information for decrypting the encrypted personal information. Then, in S109, the roadside unit 10 records the encryption information and the application identification flag for activating credit-based service in a transmission message, and transmits V2X wireless communication with the identification information of mobile body 20a as the transmission destination.

[0044] In S207, the mobile unit 20a encrypts the personal information required for using the points-based service using the encryption information contained in the received message. In S208, the mobile unit 20a records the encrypted personal information in a response message and sends V2X wireless communication to the roadside unit 10.

[0045] In S111, after the roadside unit 10 identifies the received V2X wireless communication information as a response message from the mobile body 20a, in S112, the roadside unit 10 uses decryption information to decrypt the encrypted personal information contained in the response message.

[0046] In S114, the roadside unit 10 stores the decrypted personal information, along with behavioral information or behavioral categories obtained through sensor detection of the mobile body 20a, in the database of the points-based service server 40 via Internet communication. The points-based service assigns points to the user of the mobile body 20a based on the stored information.

[0047] After completing their ride, users of mobile vehicle 20a log into a user client application that provides a points-based service, whereby they can verify the points awarded based on information stored in the database on server 40 during the ride of mobile vehicle 20a.

[0048] In conventional services such as car insurance, there are technologies that equip vehicles with dedicated devices to store vehicle data in a database and use it for purposes such as safe driving scores for car insurance. However, in these technologies, each application requires a dedicated device. On the other hand, this invention eliminates the need for dedicated devices and enables the simultaneous collaboration of data with multiple applications.

[0049] Thus, the roadside unit 10 determines the mobile entity 20 that has performed the prescribed behavior based on both sensor detection and communication. It then converts the personal information of the mobile entity 20 into highly confidential information that can only be interpreted by the mobile entity 20 and the roadside unit 10. This information is transmitted and received wirelessly between the roadside unit 10 and the mobile entity 20. Therefore, services can be provided by integrating / associating the behavior of the mobile entity 20 with personal information requested by external applications. In other words, the roadside unit 10 can associate the mobile entity 20, its behavior, and the personal information of the user of the mobile entity 20, thereby enabling collaboration with external services that are associated with the personal information of the user of the mobile entity 20.

[0050] The above embodiments have been described as representative examples, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and substitutions can be made within the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, multiple steps described in the flowchart of the embodiments can be combined into one, or a single step can be divided.

Claims

1.A roadside machine comprising: a sensor that detects a behavior of a mobile body; and a wireless communication unit that receives identification information and a behavior history from the mobile body, the wireless communication unit being configured to further receive personal information of a user of the mobile body from the mobile body in a case where a condition is satisfied, the condition including that the received behavior history and a detection result of the sensor have a prescribed correlation. 2.The roadside machine according to claim 1, comprising: a control unit that starts an application in a case where the condition is satisfied, the wireless communication unit being configured to transmit a message specified by the application to the mobile body with the identification information as a destination. 3.The roadside machine according to claim 2, wherein the wireless communication unit is configured to receive encrypted personal information of a user of the mobile body from the mobile body in a case where the application requests personal information. 4.The roadside machine according to claim 3, wherein the personal information is a user ID of the user of the mobile body required when using the application. 5.The roadside machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the mobile body is a vehicle, and the identification information is identification information of a vehicle-mounted device mounted on the mobile body.

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