system

Abstract

A system has a vehicle-mounted device and a server. The server stores communication performance information of one or more communication carriers transmitted from a plurality of vehicles. The vehicle-mounted device, in a case where a change in a vehicle state is detected, transmits information related to the change in the vehicle state to the server. The server, based on the received information related to the change in the vehicle state, determines a communication requirement of the vehicle-mounted device, selects one of the communication carriers included in the communication performance information that satisfies the communication requirement as a specific carrier, and transmits information of the selected specific carrier to the vehicle-mounted device. Then, the vehicle-mounted device connects to the specific carrier included in the received information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure pertains to the system. Background Technology

[0002] Technology is known to select the most suitable telecommunications operator from multiple operators. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-246409 discloses a technology that allows seamless switching of telecommunications operators even when a roaming telecommunications device is moved abroad. Summary of the Invention

[0003] There is room for improvement in the technology of selecting the most suitable telecommunications operator from multiple operators.

[0004] This disclosure improves the technology for selecting the most suitable telecommunications operator.

[0005] One embodiment of this disclosure relates to a system equipped with a vehicle-mounted device and a server.

[0006] The server stores communication performance information from multiple vehicles and one or more communication operators.

[0007] When the on-board device detects a change in vehicle status, it sends information related to the change in vehicle status to the server.

[0008] Based on the received information related to the changes in the vehicle's state, the server determines the communication requirements of the on-board device.

[0009] Select one of the communication operators that meets the communication requirements from the communication performance information.

[0010] Send the selected specific operator information to the vehicle-mounted device.

[0011] The vehicle-mounted device is connected to the specific operator contained in the information.

[0012] According to one embodiment of this disclosure, the technology for selecting the most suitable telecommunications operator is improved. Attached Figure Description

[0013] The features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numerals denote the same parts, wherein:

[0014] Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating the general configuration of a system according to one embodiment of this disclosure; and

[0015] Figure 2This is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of a system according to one embodiment of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0016] The embodiments of this disclosure will be described below. Figure 1 The following describes an overview of System 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. System 1 includes an in-vehicle device 10 and a server 20. Upon detecting a change in the state of a vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle device 10, the server 20 selects the most suitable communication operator. The in-vehicle device 10 is, for example, an in-vehicle communication device, a navigation device, etc., but is not limited thereto. The in-vehicle device 10 is equipped with an eSIM. The eSIM can store a communication profile related to the communication operator. The in-vehicle device 10 can utilize the mobile communication line provided by the communication operator corresponding to the communication profile. The server 20 is one or more computers that can communicate with each other and can communicate with the in-vehicle device 10 via a network 30.

[0017] First, an overview of this embodiment will be given, with details to follow. System 1 includes an in-vehicle device 10 and a server 20. The server 20 stores communication record information from multiple vehicles for one or more communication operators. When the in-vehicle device 10 detects a change in vehicle status, it sends this information to the server 20. Based on the received information related to the vehicle status change, the server 20 determines the communication requirements for the in-vehicle device 10. Furthermore, the server 20 selects one of the communication operators that meets the communication requirements from the one or more communication operators included in the communication record information as a specific operator and sends information about the selected specific operator to the in-vehicle device 10. Then, the in-vehicle device 10 connects to the specific operator included in the information.

[0018] In this embodiment, in countries with multiple telecommunications operators, server 20 can select the most suitable telecommunications operator based on communication performance information accumulated during actual vehicle operation, thus determining the most appropriate communication condition. Furthermore, since server 20 reselects the telecommunications operator when a change in vehicle status is detected, improvements in the communication environment and reductions in communication costs are expected. Therefore, this method improves the technology for selecting the most suitable telecommunications operator for the vehicle.

[0019] Next, the components of System 1 will be described in detail.

[0020] like Figure 1As shown, the vehicle-mounted device 10 includes a communication unit 11, a control unit 12, and a storage unit 13. The communication unit 11 includes one or more communication interfaces connected to the network 30. These communication interfaces may correspond to mobile communication standards such as 5G (5th Generation), but are not limited to these. In this embodiment, the vehicle-mounted device 10 communicates with the server 20 via the communication unit 11 and the network 30. The control unit 12 includes one or more processors, one or more dedicated circuits, or combinations thereof. The processor may be a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for specific processing, but is not limited to these. The control unit 12 controls the overall operation of the vehicle-mounted device 10. The storage unit 13 includes one or more memories. These memories may be semiconductor memories, magnetic memories, etc., but are not limited to these. Each memory included in the storage unit 13 may function as a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a buffer memory, for example. The storage unit 13 stores any information used for the operation of the server 20.

[0021] like Figure 1 As shown, server 20 includes a communication unit 21, a control unit 22, and a storage unit 23. The hardware configuration of the communication unit 21, control unit 22, and storage unit 23 of server 20 can be the same as the hardware configuration of the communication unit 11, control unit 12, and storage unit 13 of vehicle-mounted device 10.

[0022] Reference Figure 2 The operation of System 1 according to this embodiment will be described. Control unit 22 stores communication performance information from one or more communication operators sent from multiple vehicles to storage unit 23 (S100). The communication performance information of the communication operators includes, for example, evaluation items and evaluation results for each evaluation item. These evaluation items include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following: radio wave strength from base stations in each area, communication quality in each area, and communication cost; any information may be included. Evaluation items may also include information such as the number of base stations and coverage areas based on publicly available information from multiple communication operators. Communication quality can be evaluated using any method, such as SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), CNR (Carrier-to-Noise Ratio), or CIR (Carrier-to-Interference Ratio). Other evaluation items can also be evaluated using any method.

[0023] Upon detecting a change in vehicle status, the control unit 12 sends information related to the change in vehicle status to the server 20 (S101). Changes in vehicle status may include, but are not limited to, changes in destination, planned driving area, country or region of travel, or changes in the store's storage status before or after the sale of the vehicle to the user. Information regarding changes in destination and planned driving area may be obtained, for example, from a car navigation system. Changes in the country or region of travel may be detected, for example, based on the latitude and longitude information of the vehicle equipped with the onboard unit 10. Changes in store storage status or market travel status may be detected, for example, when the vehicle has not been operated for a certain period or when the vehicle is operated periodically. Furthermore, changes in vehicle status may be detected by any method, but are not limited to these.

[0024] Based on the received information related to changes in vehicle status, the control unit 22 determines the communication requirements of the on-board unit 10 (S102). The communication requirements are those required by the new communication operator after the handover. The communication requirements include at least one of the following: a first requirement, a second requirement, a third requirement, a fourth requirement, and a fifth requirement. The first requirement is that the radio wave strength is stronger than that of the previous communication operator. The second requirement is that the communication quality is higher than that of the previous communication operator. The third requirement is that the communication cost is lower than that of the previous communication operator. The fourth requirement is that the number of base stations is greater than that of the previous communication operator. The fifth requirement is that the coverage area is larger than that of the previous communication operator. Here, the server 20 may also store publicly available information about multiple communication operators in the storage unit 23. The evaluation items related to the first, second, and third requirements (i.e., evaluation items such as radio wave strength, communication quality, and communication cost) may also be evaluated based on actual communication performance information. The evaluation items related to the fourth and fifth requirements (i.e., the number of base stations and the size of the coverage area) can also be evaluated based on this publicly available information. For example, in the case of changing from a market driving state to a shop storage state, it is determined that the communication requirement includes the third requirement. In addition, for example, in the case of changing the driving area from an urban area to a mountainous area, it is determined that the communication requirement includes the first requirement.

[0025] Additionally, the control unit 22 of the server 20 can also store the vehicle model information of the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle device 10 in the storage unit 23. In this case, the control unit 22 determines the communication requirements of the in-vehicle device 10 based on changes in vehicle status and vehicle model information. For example, if the vehicle is a family car that frequently receives content via the network 30, the control unit 22 includes a third requirement in the communication requirements. Alternatively, if the vehicle is a sports car that has fewer opportunities to communicate, the control unit 22 includes a first or second requirement in the communication requirements. Thus, the control unit 22 can determine communication requirements that take into account the adaptability of each vehicle model, which is related to improving user-friendliness.

[0026] Control unit 22 selects one of the communication operators that meets the communication requirements from the communication performance information (S103) as a specific operator. Here, if the determined communication requirements include a first requirement, a second requirement, or a third requirement, control unit 22 determines each communication operator that meets the communication requirements as a candidate from the more than one communication operator based on the communication performance information. Furthermore, if the determined communication requirements include a fourth requirement or a fifth requirement, control unit 22 determines each communication operator that meets the communication requirements as a candidate from the more than one communication operator based on publicly available information. Control unit 22 selects the specific operator from the more than one candidate based on the evaluation results of each evaluation item included in the communication performance information. For example, the evaluation result of the radio wave strength evaluation item related to the first requirement can be determined based on the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) value. The evaluation result of the communication quality evaluation item related to the second requirement can be determined based on the SNR value. The evaluation result of the communication cost, which is the third requirement, can be determined by comparing it with the average communication cost per data packet of multiple telecommunications operators in the same country. The evaluation result of the number of base stations, which is the fourth requirement, can be determined by comparing it with the average number of base stations of multiple telecommunications operators in the same country. Furthermore, the evaluation result of the fifth requirement can be determined by comparing it with the average area coverage of multiple telecommunications operators in the same country.

[0027] Here, in the selection process of S103, if there are multiple candidate communication operators, the communication operator with the highest comprehensive evaluation value among those meeting the communication requirements can be selected as the specific operator. The comprehensive evaluation value is the value of the evaluation items of the communication operator. In addition, a machine learning model can be appropriately used in the calculation of the individual evaluation value. In this case, the server 20 can also store the machine learning model trained with the evaluation items included in the communication performance information as features in the storage unit 23. Specifically, the control unit 22 inputs the evaluation items included in the communication performance information into the machine learning model and determines the individual evaluation value. The individual evaluation value is the evaluation value determined for each evaluation item of each communication operator involved in the communication requirements. In addition, the control unit 22 determines the comprehensive evaluation value of each communication operator based on the determined individual evaluation value. The control unit 22 selects the communication operator with the highest comprehensive evaluation value among those meeting the communication requirements as the specific operator. The comprehensive evaluation value can be determined by any statistical method, such as the sum of all individual evaluation values, the average of all individual evaluation values, the sum of individual evaluation values ​​with high priority.

[0028] The control unit 22 sends the selected specific operator information to the vehicle-mounted device 10 via the network 30 (S104). The specific operator information may include, for example, information representing the specific operator and a communication configuration file for using the mobile communication lines provided by the specific operator, but is not limited to these; it may also include any information related to the specific operator. Furthermore, the server 20 may pre-store communication configuration files corresponding to each communication operator, or it may retrieve them from the communication operator each time.

[0029] The vehicle-mounted device 10 connects to the specific operator contained in the received information (S105). The vehicle-mounted device 10 extracts a communication profile from the information received from the server 20 via the network 30. The vehicle-mounted device 10 overwrites the communication profile stored in the eSIM with the communication profile received from the server 20 and uses this communication profile to establish a connection. Afterwards, the vehicle-mounted device 10 can communicate via the mobile communication line provided by the specific operator. This allows for a handover from communication operator A to communication operator B (operator switching).

[0030] While this disclosure has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments, it should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and alterations based on this disclosure. Therefore, it should be understood that these modifications and alterations are all included within the scope of this disclosure. For example, the functions included in each component or step can be reconfigured in a logically consistent manner, multiple components or steps can be combined into one, or individual components or steps can be separated.

[0031] For example, in the above-described embodiments, the configuration and operation of the server 20 may be distributed among multiple computers capable of communicating with each other. For example, it may be an embodiment in which some or all of the components of the server 20 are located in the vehicle-mounted device 10.

[0032] In the above-described embodiments, there are cases where the server 20 sends an emergency notification to the vehicle-mounted device 10, or receives a notification such as an emergency notification sent from the vehicle-mounted device 10. In this case, the communication requirement can be determined as the first requirement regardless of whether there is a change in the vehicle's status. An emergency notification may refer to a notification of an accident or sudden illness, but it is not limited to these and can be any content.

Claims

1. A system comprising an onboard device and a server, The server stores machine learning models and communication performance information from one or more communication operators sent from multiple vehicles. When the on-board unit detects a change in the vehicle state, indicating the state of the vehicle equipped with the unit, it sends information related to the change in vehicle state to the server. Based on the received information related to the changes in the vehicle's state, the server determines the communication requirements of the on-board device. The individual evaluation value is determined by inputting the evaluation items contained in the communication performance information into a machine learning model that has been trained using the evaluation items contained in the communication performance information as features. Based on the determined individual evaluation values, a comprehensive evaluation value is determined for each of the telecommunications operators. The communication operator with the highest comprehensive evaluation value among those that meet the aforementioned communication requirements will be selected as the specific operator. Send the selected specific operator information to the vehicle-mounted device. The vehicle-mounted device is connected to the specific operator contained in the information.

2. A system comprising an onboard device and a server, The server stores communication performance information from multiple vehicles and one or more communication operators. When the on-board device detects a change in vehicle status, it sends information related to the change in vehicle status to the server. The server determines the communication requirements of the on-board device based on information related to the changes in the vehicle's state. Select one of the communication operators that meets the communication requirements from the communication performance information. Send the selected specific operator information to the vehicle-mounted device. The vehicle-mounted device is connected to the specific operator contained in the information.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein, The server also stores publicly available information from multiple telecommunications operators. The communication requirements include one or more of the following: a first requirement that the radio wave strength is stronger than that of the communication operator before the handover; a second requirement that the communication quality is higher than that of the communication operator before the handover; a third requirement that the communication cost is lower than that of the communication operator before the handover; a fourth requirement that the number of base stations is greater than that of the communication operator before the handover; and a fifth requirement that the coverage area is larger than that of the communication operator before the handover. When the vehicle-mounted device determines that the communication requirements include the first requirement, the second requirement, or the third requirement, it determines, based on the communication performance information, each communication operator that meets the communication requirements as a candidate from among the more than one communication operator. If it is determined that the communication requirements include the fourth or fifth requirement, based on the publicly available information, each communication operator that meets the communication requirements is selected as a candidate from among the more than one communication operator. Select the specific operator from one or more identified candidates.

4. The system according to claim 2, wherein, The server also stores vehicle model information for the vehicles equipped with the on-board device. Based on the received vehicle status changes and vehicle model information, the communication requirements of the vehicle-mounted device are determined.

5. The system according to claim 2, wherein, When the server sends an emergency notification to the vehicle-mounted device, or receives such a notification from the vehicle-mounted device, it determines the communication requirement as a first requirement that the radio wave strength is stronger than that of the communication operator before the handover, regardless of whether there is a change in the vehicle's status.

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