Communication device and method for controlling the same, and program

Abstract

To facilitate exchange of information between vehicles.SOLUTION: A communication device mounted on a movable body comprises: first communication means that receives a radio signal transmitted using a first radio system; second communication means that performs radio communication using a second radio system; generation means that generates a communication identifier used for the radio communication using the second radio system based on an information element included in the radio signal received by the first communication means; transmission means that transmits information on the movable body through the second communication means with the addition of the communication identifier; and receiving means that receives a radio signal from an external device added with the communication identifier through the second communication means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to connection control of communication in wireless communication.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the formulation of wireless communication standards such as LTE (Long Term Evolution) and NR (New Radio) has been progressing. Among these, a wireless communication specification between devices without passing through a mobile communication network (core network), called sidelink communication, has been formulated. Specifically, it is direct wireless communication between devices using an interface called PC5. In sidelink communication, L2ID (Layer-2 ID) is used as an identifier indicating a source device or a destination device. In addition, by performing sidelink communication between vehicles, a system that obtains information (position, speed, vehicle control information, etc.) of surrounding vehicles and provides driving support as needed is being provided.

[0003] In Patent Document 1, a technique has been proposed in which a server acquires position information and speed information of a moving vehicle and creates map information associating the current position of the vehicle with the L2ID assigned to the vehicle. In addition, a technique has been proposed in which communication is performed between vehicles using the L2ID based on this map information and information between vehicles is exchanged.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in Patent Document 1, the L2ID is received from the server device via a public network, so the L2ID cannot be obtained in locations where public network access is unavailable. Therefore, in such situations, there is a problem in that the desired information exchange between vehicles cannot be achieved.

[0006] This invention has been made in view of these problems and aims to provide a technology that facilitates information exchange between vehicles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To solve the above-mentioned problems, the communication device according to the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the communication device mounted on a mobile body is A first communication means for receiving a radio signal transmitted using a first wireless method, A second communication means that performs wireless communication using a second wireless method, A generation means for generating a communication identifier used in wireless communication in the second wireless system based on information elements contained in the wireless signal received by the first communication means, A transmitting means that transmits information relating to the mobile body via the second communication means, with the communication identifier added to it. A receiving means that receives a wireless signal from an external device to which the aforementioned communication identifier has been added via the second communication means, It is equipped with. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technology that facilitates information exchange between vehicles. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing an example configuration of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the roadside unit. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of in-vehicle devices. [Figure 4] This is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication system. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart illustrating the processing in an in-vehicle device. [Figure 6] This diagram illustrates data transmission in the Broadcast / Groupcast method. [Figure 7] This diagram illustrates data transmission using the Unicast method. [Figure 8] This is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the roadside unit. [Figure 9] This figure shows an example of L2ID. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention as defined in the claims. While the embodiments describe multiple features, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and the features may be combined in any way. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, identical or similar configurations are given the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0011] (First Embodiment) As a first embodiment of the communication device according to the present invention, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system using a roadside unit will be described below as an example.

[0012] <System Configuration> Figure 1 shows the configuration of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication system. It illustrates a situation where vehicles 102 and 103, equipped with on-board devices, are traveling on a road where a roadside unit 101 is installed along the roadside.

[0013] The roadside unit 101 is a device that notifies the surrounding area of the information it detects or the information on servers on the Internet via wireless communication. The roadside unit 101 is a device that notifies other wireless devices of information by any wireless communication method such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (registered trademark), ETC, cellular (5G and LTE), or Sidelink. In FIG. 1, the wireless communication area (wireless connectable range) by the roadside unit 101 is exemplarily shown by a dashed line.

[0014] The vehicles 102 and 103 are vehicles that are moving bodies traveling on a road. The in-vehicle devices 104a and 104b (hereinafter represented by the in-vehicle device 104) are in-vehicle devices mounted on the vehicles 102 and 103. The in-vehicle device 104 is a device that acquires and displays information from outside the vehicle via wireless communication, or acquires information on the vehicle and shares the information with an external device via wireless communication. The in-vehicle device 104 acquires and uses information from sensors and cameras mounted on the vehicle as vehicle information. Further, the in-vehicle device 104 can analyze traffic information from the information obtained from sensors mounted on the vehicle or the information analyzed from camera images, and transmit it to other wireless devices.

[0015] <Functional configurations of the roadside unit and the in-vehicle device> Next, the functional configurations of the roadside unit 101 and the in-vehicle device 104 will be described. Note that the configurations of the functional blocks described below are merely examples. Some (or in some cases, all) of the functional blocks to be described may be replaced with other functional blocks that perform the same function, some functional blocks may be omitted, or additional functional blocks may be added. Also, one functional block shown in the following description may be divided into a plurality of functional blocks, or a plurality of functional blocks may be integrated into one functional block.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the roadside unit 101. The camera 201 grasps the traffic situation on the road. The storage unit 202 stores the images captured by the camera 201 and the information obtained through communication. The control unit 203 controls the operation of the roadside unit 101. The detection information processing unit 204 processes the information obtained by the camera 201 and sensors to judge the traffic situation. The wireless communication unit 205 transmits and receives information to and from external wireless devices. The wired communication unit 206 is connected to the Internet or the like by wire to obtain information from other devices such as servers.

[0017] The roadside unit 101 processes the image captured by the camera 201 by the detection information processing unit 204, and notifies the processing result to an external wireless device by the wireless communication unit 205. In addition, traffic information and the like are obtained from an external server via the wired communication unit 206, the obtained information is processed by the detection information processing unit 204, and is transmitted to an external wireless device by the wireless communication unit 205. The wireless communication unit 205 is configured to be capable of communicating corresponding to one or more first wireless methods such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ETC, cellular communication (5G and LTE), and Sidelink communication according to the installation location, the device to be notified, and the like.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the in-vehicle device 104. The Sidelink communication unit 301 executes Sidelink communication, which is a second wireless method, with a specified L2ID. The storage unit 302 holds the information necessary for the operation of the in-vehicle device 104. The control unit 303 controls the operation of the in-vehicle device 104. The display unit 304 displays the state of the host vehicle, the situation of other vehicles, traffic information, and the like. The wireless communication unit 305 performs wireless communication with an external device. The vehicle information acquisition unit 306 acquires the information of the vehicle on which the in-vehicle device 104 is mounted. The communication identifier generation unit 307 generates an L2ID, which is a communication identifier used by the Sidelink communication unit 301. The video processing unit 308 analyzes the video obtained from the camera mounted on the in-vehicle device 104 and an external camera to judge the traffic situation and the like.

[0019] The in-vehicle device 104 acquires information on the radio signal from the roadside unit 101 (i.e., the radio signal of the first radio method) using the wireless communication unit 305, and generates an L2ID using the communication identifier generation unit 307. The generated L2ID is then notified to the Sidelink communication unit 301, which operates to perform Sidelink communication (i.e., sending and receiving radio signals of the second radio method) with other devices.

[0020] When the vehicle information acquisition unit 306 generates information that it wants to notify an external device, the communication identifier generation unit 307 generates an L2ID with the information to be notified added. Similarly, when the video processing unit 308 generates information that it wants to notify an external device, the communication identifier generation unit 307 generates an L2ID with the information to be notified added.

[0021] Figure 9 shows an example of a 3-byte L2ID generated by the communication identifier generation unit 307. In the example in Figure 9, the in-vehicle device 104 processes the wireless communication identifier obtained from the roadside unit 101 using a hash function or the like, and sets the resulting numerical value as the upper two bytes (second and first bytes) of the L2ID (0000 to FFFF in hexadecimal). The wireless communication identifier can be a network identifier (SSID) or a source address (BSSID / MAC address). In addition, the lower byte (0th byte) of the L2ID (00 to FF in hexadecimal) is set to a value corresponding to the status information of the vehicle held by the in-vehicle device 104. The vehicle status may include, for example, information about vehicle attributes such as emergency vehicles or broken-down vehicles, and information about driving attributes such as planned right turns or planned merges.

[0022] <Hardware configuration of roadside units and on-board devices> Figure 8 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the roadside unit 101. The roadside unit 101 includes a CPU 801, ROM 802, RAM 803, auxiliary storage device 804, communication interface 805, device interface 806, and a bus.

[0023] The CPU 801 controls the entire roadside unit 101 using computer programs and data stored in the ROM 802 or RAM 803, thereby realizing each function of the roadside unit 101 shown in Figure 2. The roadside unit 101 may have one or more dedicated hardware components separate from the CPU 801, and at least a portion of the processing performed by the CPU 801 may be executed by the dedicated hardware. Examples of dedicated hardware include ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits), FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays), and DSPs (Digital Signal Processors).

[0024] ROM 802 stores programs and other data that do not require modification. RAM 803 temporarily stores programs and data supplied from auxiliary storage device 804, as well as data supplied from external sources via communication interface 805. Auxiliary storage device 804 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive and stores various types of data.

[0025] The communication interface 805 is used for communication with external devices. For example, the wireless communication unit 205 uses the communication interface 805 to communicate wirelessly with the in-vehicle device 104, which is an external device. The device interface 806 connects to various devices. For example, the device interface 806 may be connected to a display device for administrators to check information managed by the roadside unit 101, or sensors and cameras mounted on the roadside unit 102. The above describes an example of the hardware configuration of the roadside unit 101 with reference to Figure 8, but the in-vehicle device 104 can also be realized with a similar hardware configuration. For example, if the in-vehicle device 104 has the hardware configuration shown in Figure 8, an imaging unit equipped with a mechanism for performing imaging and a vehicle sensor may be connected to the device I / F 806.

[0026] <Device Operation> Figure 4 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication system. When vehicle 102 moves within the wireless connectivity range of roadside unit 101, the on-board device 104a mounted on vehicle 102 establishes a Wi-Fi connection with roadside unit 101 (F401). The on-board device 104a then retrieves information elements such as the Wi-Fi communication SSID (F402) and generates an L2ID for use in inter-vehicle Sidelink communication from the information elements (F403). Using the generated L2ID, the on-board device 104a starts broadcasting information from vehicle 102 and listening for Sidelink communication from on-board devices 104 of other vehicles (F404).

[0027] Similarly, when vehicle 103 moves within the wireless connectivity range of roadside unit 101, the on-board device 104b installed in vehicle 103 establishes a Wi-Fi connection with roadside unit 101 (F405). The on-board device 104b then retrieves information elements such as the SSID of the Wi-Fi communication (F406) and generates an L2ID from the information elements to be used for inter-vehicle Sidelink communication (F407). Using the generated L2ID, the on-board device 104b starts broadcasting information from vehicle 103 and listening for Sidelink communication from on-board devices 104 of other vehicles (F408).

[0028] When vehicle 102 and vehicle 103 approach each other within Sidelink communication range, a Sidelink connection is established (F409). Then, information is exchanged between vehicle 102 and vehicle 103 as needed (F410). The information exchanged includes vehicle information generated by the vehicle information acquisition unit 306 and the video processing unit 308, and / or road traffic information such as the presence or absence of accidents, traffic jams, emergency vehicles, construction vehicles, abnormally driven vehicles, etc.

[0029] Subsequently, when vehicle 102 moves outside the wireless communication range of roadside unit 101, the on-board device 104a detects that the Wi-Fi has been disconnected (F411). Then, the on-board device 104a terminates the broadcasting and waiting for information about vehicle 102 associated with the disconnected Wi-Fi (F412), and deletes the L2ID (F413).

[0030] Similarly, when vehicle 103 moves outside the wireless communication range of roadside unit 101, the on-board device 104b detects that the Wi-Fi has been disconnected (F414). The on-board device 104b then terminates the broadcasting and waiting for information about vehicle 103 associated with the disconnected Wi-Fi and L2ID (F415), and deletes the L2ID (F416).

[0031] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating the processing in the in-vehicle device 104.

[0032] In S501, the on-board device 104 detects the Wi-Fi wireless signal from the roadside unit using the wireless communication unit 305. For example, when a vehicle equipped with the on-board device 104 enters the wireless connection range of the roadside unit 101, the wireless signal is detected. Once detected, the process proceeds to S502.

[0033] In S502, the in-vehicle device 104 connects to the roadside unit's Wi-Fi network via the wireless communication unit 305. In S503, the in-vehicle device 104 acquires the SSID included in the signal from the connected Wi-Fi network and stores it as an information element in the storage unit 302. In S504, the in-vehicle device 104 uses the acquired SSID to input a hash function or the like to generate a value, along with information held by the in-vehicle device, to generate an L2ID necessary for sending and receiving Sidelink communication using the communication identifier generation unit 307. More specifically, it generates an L2ID to be used as the source identifier and destination identifier for Sidelink communication.

[0034] In S505, the in-vehicle device 104 uses the generated L2ID to initiate vehicle information broadcasting and standby via the Sidelink communication unit 301.

[0035] In S506, the in-vehicle device 104 determines whether or not a device to communicate with via Sidelink has been found. If a device is found, the process proceeds to S507; otherwise, the process proceeds to S509.

[0036] In S507, the in-vehicle device 104 establishes a Sidelink connection with the discovered peer device. Then, in S508, the in-vehicle device 104 executes the exchange of vehicle information via Sidelink communication with the peer device with which the Sidelink connection has been established.

[0037] In S509, the in-vehicle device 104 determines whether the disconnection of the Wi-Fi connection between the roadside unit 101 and the in-vehicle device 104 has been detected. For example, when the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle device 104 exits the wireless connection range of the roadside unit 101, the disconnection of the Wi-Fi connection is detected. If the disconnection is detected, the process proceeds to S510; if the disconnection is not detected, the process returns to S506.

[0038] In S510, the in-vehicle device 104 terminates the notification and waiting for its own vehicle information by the Sidelink communication unit 301 using the L2ID generated in S504. After the termination process is completed, in S511, the in-vehicle device 104 deletes the L2ID generated in S504. <Sidelink communication method> The details of the Sidelink communication method will be further described. There are "Broadcast communication method", "Groupcast communication method", and "Unicast communication method" in the Sidelink communication method.

[0039] FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining data transmission using the L2ID in the "Broadcast communication method" and "Groupcast communication method". As shown in FIG. 6, in the case of the "Broadcast communication method" and "Groupcast communication method", the shared L2ID is set as the transmission destination and the reception destination in the transmission-side and reception-side devices, respectively. With this setting, data communication between devices becomes possible.

[0040] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining data transmission using the L2ID in the "Unicast communication method". As shown in FIG. 7, in the case of the "Unicast communication method", the transmission-side device sends a connection request to the shared L2ID. The receiving device with the shared L2ID can perform data communication by responding to the connection request after exchanging security information.

[0041] The processing examples in Figures 4 and 5 were explained assuming the "Groupcast communication method," but any communication method can be applied.

[0042] As described above, the information that the in-vehicle device 104 communicates with other in-vehicle devices via Sidelink communication includes the vehicle's status, planned route, surrounding traffic conditions detected by sensors and cameras mounted on the vehicle, sensor data, and camera images. Therefore, each vehicle can not only determine the presence or absence of oncoming vehicles at a merging point, but also obtain information about oncoming vehicles from their location and speed. For example, by sending and receiving information about the vehicle's status and planned route, it becomes possible to provide driver assistance.

[0043] Furthermore, Sidelink communication enables low-latency information exchange, allowing for features such as merging order control and emergency brake control. Additionally, receiving road traffic information detected by other vehicles, such as accidents, congestion, emergency vehicles, construction vehicles, and vehicles driving erratically, via Sidelink communication allows for safer driving.

[0044] As described above, according to the first embodiment, the in-vehicle device 104 generates an L2ID based on the SSID of the roadside unit that has established wireless communication. This makes it possible to share the L2ID among appropriate vehicles even in places where public communication lines are unavailable. Furthermore, by generating an identifier that takes into account the information that can be received at the time and the content of the information to be exchanged, and using it in wireless communication, it is possible to exchange information between appropriate combinations of communication devices.

[0045] (Other examples) The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that implements one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and by having one or more processors in the computer of that system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

[0046] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, claims are attached to disclose the scope of the invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0047] 101 Roadside unit: 102, 103 Vehicle: 104a, 104b On-board unit

Claims

1. A communication device mounted on a moving object, A first communication means for receiving a radio signal transmitted in a first radio system; A second communication means for performing wireless communication in a second wireless system; an acquisition means for acquiring an information element included in the wireless signal received by the first communication means; a generating means for generating a communication identifier to be used in wireless communication in the second wireless system by using the information element; a transmitting means for transmitting a radio signal including information about the mobile unit and the communication identifier via the second communication means; a receiving means for receiving a wireless signal including the communication identifier from an external device via the second communication means; A communication device comprising:

2. The first wireless method is at least one of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ETC, cellular communication, and Sidelink communication; The second wireless method is Sidelink communication.

2. The communication device according to claim 1 .

3. The communication identifier is a Layer-2 ID (L2ID) in Sidelink communication.

3. The communication device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The generating means generates the communication identifier based on an information element included in the wireless signal received by the first communication means and status information of the mobile unit.

4. A communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is a communication device having a plurality of communication ports.

5. The information element is a network identifier or a source address included in a wireless signal transmitted in the first wireless system.

5. The communication device according to claim 4.

6. The generating means generates the communication identifier when communication via the first communication means is established, and deletes the communication identifier when communication via the first communication means is disconnected.

6. A communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is a communication device having a plurality of communication ports.

7. The generating means terminates transmission and reception by the transmitting means and the receiving means when communication via the first communication means is disconnected, and deletes the communication identifier when the termination of the transmission and reception is completed.

7. The communication device according to claim 6.

8. the moving object is a vehicle traveling on a road, The wireless signal transmitted in the first wireless system is a wireless signal from a roadside unit installed at the side of the road.

8. A communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. A method for controlling a communication device mounted on a moving object, comprising: The communication device includes: A first communication means for receiving a wireless signal transmitted in a first wireless system; A second communication means for performing wireless communication in a second wireless system; The control method includes: an acquisition step of acquiring an information element included in the wireless signal received by the first communication means; a generating step of generating a communication identifier to be used in wireless communication in the second wireless system by using the information element; a transmitting step of transmitting a radio signal including information about the mobile unit and the communication identifier via the second communication means; a receiving step of receiving a wireless signal including the communication identifier from an external device via the second communication means; A control method comprising:

10. A program for causing a computer to execute a control method for a communication device mounted on a moving object, comprising: The communication device includes: A first communication means for receiving a wireless signal transmitted in a first wireless system; A second communication means for performing wireless communication in a second wireless system; The control method includes: an acquisition step of acquiring an information element included in the wireless signal received by the first communication means; a generating step of generating a communication identifier to be used in wireless communication in the second wireless system by using the information element; a transmitting step of transmitting a radio signal including information about the mobile unit and the communication identifier via the second communication means; a receiving step of receiving a wireless signal including the communication identifier from an external device via the second communication means; A program comprising:

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