Information processing device

The integration of cellular and vehicle-to-vehicle communication modules in an on-vehicle device allows for the detection of cellular network failures, ensuring communication service continuity and occupant notification.

JP2025043649AActive Publication Date: 2025-04-01TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2023151060
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2023-09-19
Publication Date
2025-04-01
Estimated Expiration
2043-09-19

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing cellular communication networks lack effective mechanisms for detecting failures, which can disrupt communication services and prevent notification of communication failures to vehicle occupants.

Method used

An information processing device mounted on a vehicle, equipped with both a cellular communication module and a vehicle-to-vehicle communication module, receives communication status data from other vehicles and determines if a cellular communication network failure has occurred based on this data.

Benefits of technology

This solution enables the detection of cellular communication network failures even when the network is unavailable, allowing for alternative communication methods to be activated and ensuring that vehicle occupants are notified of communication failures.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

To detect failure that has occurred in a cellular communication network.SOLUTION: There is provided an information processing device installed in a vehicle, comprising: a first communication module for performing communication with a cellular communication network; a second communication module for performing communication between vehicles; and a control unit that executes receiving communication situation data about a situation of communicating with the cellular communication network via the second communication module, from one or more other vehicles, and executes determining whether or not failure occurs in the cellular communication network, based on a communication situation via the first communication module, and the communication situation data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1
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Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to communications technology. [Background technology]

[0002] Technologies for detecting faults occurring in cellular communication networks have been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a device that relays and transmits emergency call information by vehicle-to-vehicle communication means as an alternative call means when communication via a cellular communication network is not possible. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-169629 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The present disclosure aims to detect a fault that occurs in a cellular communication network. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure is to The information processing device is mounted on a vehicle and has a first communication module for communicating with a cellular communication network, a second communication module for communicating between vehicles, and a control unit that receives communication status data regarding the status of communication with the cellular communication network from one or more other vehicles via the second communication module, and determines whether or not a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network based on the status of communication via the first communication module and the communication status data.

[0006] Other aspects include a method executed by the above-mentioned device, a program for causing a computer to execute the method, or a computer-readable storage medium non-transitoryly storing the program. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, a fault occurring in a cellular communication network can be detected. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle communication system according to a first embodiment; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the in-vehicle device 10. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a software configuration diagram of the in-vehicle device 10. [Figure 4] 13 is an example of broadcast notification data. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart of a process executed by the in-vehicle device 10. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle communication system according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] In recent years, automobiles have become more connected, and the number of vehicles equipped with on-board devices having wireless communication functions is increasing. The on-board devices can provide various services to vehicle occupants by communicating with server devices (application servers, etc.) via, for example, a cellular communication network (also called a mobile phone network or a mobile communication network).

[0010] However, in such a system, if the cellular network fails, all communication is lost. Furthermore, since the means for notifying the occurrence of the failure itself is lost, it becomes impossible to notify the vehicle occupants that a communication failure has occurred.

[0011] The information processing device according to the present disclosure solves this problem by inferring that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network using a communication means other than the cellular communication network.

[0012] An information processing device according to a first aspect of the present disclosure includes: An information processing device mounted on a vehicle, the information processing device having a first communication module for communicating with a cellular communication network, a second communication module for communicating between vehicles, and a control unit that executes the following: receiving communication status data regarding 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 based on the status of communication via the first communication module and the communication status data.

[0013] The first communication module is a communication module for communicating with a cellular communication network (mobile communication network), and is also called a cellular communication module. The second communication module is a communication module for performing communication between vehicles via a network other than a cellular communication network. The second communication module can typically be a communication module for performing vehicle-to-vehicle communication (or V2X communication). The communication between vehicles may be via a peer-to-peer network in which vehicles directly transmit and receive data to each other.

[0014] The control unit receives communication status data from the other vehicle via the second communication module. The communication status data is data indicating the status of communication with the cellular communication network, and typically includes a communication status, a measurement value related to the communication, and the like. The communication status data received from the other vehicle may be stored in a storage device (storage unit).

[0015] The control unit can determine whether or not a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network based on the state of communication via the first communication module and the communication state data received from the other vehicle. For example, when the vehicle falls into a state in which communication via the first communication module is not possible, the control unit can estimate whether or not a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network by referring to the communication state data received from the other vehicle.

[0016] According to this configuration, it becomes possible to collect information about the cellular communication network by means other than the cellular communication network. As a result, even if the cellular communication network becomes unavailable, it becomes possible to estimate whether a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network itself or whether communication is unavailable due to some other factor.

[0017] If cellular communication is not possible, the control unit may generate communication status data by itself and broadcast it via the second communication module, thereby making it possible to provide information to other vehicles.

[0018] The determination of whether or not a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network may be performed by counting the number of other vehicles that are unable to communicate normally with the cellular communication network. For example, if a predetermined percentage or more of a plurality of other vehicles located in the vicinity are unable to communicate, it can be assumed that a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network. Note that if the vehicle is not within the service area of ​​the cellular communication network, the determination may not be performed.

[0019] Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Unless otherwise specified, the hardware configurations, module configurations, functional configurations, etc. described herein are not intended to limit the technical scope of the disclosure to those configurations.

[0020] First Embodiment [System Overview] An overview of a vehicle communication system according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The vehicle communication system according to this embodiment includes a plurality of vehicles 1 and an in-vehicle device 10 mounted in the vehicles 1. The in-vehicle device 10 is also connected to a predetermined server device 2 via a cellular communication network. The system may include a plurality of vehicles 1 and server devices 2.

[0021] The vehicle 1 is a connected vehicle capable of communicating with any server device by wireless communication. The vehicle 1 can provide various services by communicating with an external server device (e.g., server device 2) via an in-vehicle device 10 having a cellular function. Examples of the various services include a navigation service, a remote control service (e.g., remote air conditioning, etc.), an in-vehicle Wi-Fi (registered trademark) service, and an emergency call service. In addition to the devices shown in the figure, the vehicle 1 may have components (e.g., an ECU, an in-vehicle terminal, etc.) that provide these services.

[0022] The in-vehicle device 10 is a device that communicates with a predetermined network in order to connect components (e.g., an ECU, an in-vehicle terminal, etc.) of the vehicle 1 to the server device 2. In this embodiment, the in-vehicle device 10 is configured to be connectable to a predetermined cellular communication network. The in-vehicle device 10 is configured to communicate with a server device 2 via a predetermined cellular communication network. The eUICC may be configured to include an eUICC (eSIM Integrated Circuit Card). The eUICC may be a physical SIM card or an eSIM.

[0023] In the illustrated example, the vehicle-mounted device 10 is configured to be able to communicate with a cellular communication network, which includes base stations and control devices that manage mobile communication terminals.

[0024] As shown in the figure, in a configuration in which the in-vehicle device 10 communicates with another server device via a cellular communication network, communication is interrupted when a communication failure occurs in the cellular communication network. For example, when a failure occurs in a wireless access network, radio waves from a base station may not be captured. Also, when a failure occurs in a core network, communication with the Internet may be interrupted. However, when communication via the cellular communication network fails, the in-vehicle device 10 alone cannot determine whether the cause is in the cellular communication network (e.g., a communication failure has occurred) or whether the cause is elsewhere (e.g., in the device itself).

[0025] To address this issue, in this embodiment, multiple vehicle-mounted devices 10 generate and broadcast data on the status of communication with the cellular communication network, and other vehicle-mounted devices 10 that receive this data store the data. This allows the vehicle-mounted device 10 to determine whether other vehicles in the vicinity are communicating normally with the cellular communication network, and based on this, it becomes possible to estimate the presence or absence of a communication failure. In the following description, a communication failure refers to a failure in a radio access network or a core network that prevents normal communication via a cellular communication network.

[0026] 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 communicating between vehicles, and the vehicles can exchange data regarding the status of communication with the cellular communication network via the second communication module. The first communication module may adopt any communication standard as long as it allows communication between vehicles. Preferably, the second communication module uses a standard that allows broadcasting of data.

[0027] [Hardware configuration] Next, the hardware configuration of each device constituting the system will be described. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the in-vehicle device 10 according to this embodiment.

[0028] The in-vehicle device 10 can be configured as a computer having a processor (CPU, GPU, etc.), a main storage device (RAM, ROM, etc.), and an auxiliary storage device (EPROM, hard disk drive, removable media, etc.). The auxiliary storage device stores an operating system (OS), various programs, various tables, etc., and by executing the programs stored therein, various functions (software modules) that match a predetermined purpose, as described below, can be realized. However, some or all of the functions may be realized as hardware modules by hardware circuits such as ASICs and FPGAs.

[0029] 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.

[0030] The control unit 11 is a calculation unit that executes a predetermined program to realize various functions of the in-vehicle device 10. The control unit 11 can be realized by a hardware processor such as a CPU. The control unit 11 may also be configured to include a RAM, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a cache memory, and the like.

[0031] The storage unit 12 is a means for storing information, and is configured with storage media such as RAM, a magnetic disk, a flash memory, etc. The storage unit 12 stores programs executed by the control unit 11, data used by the programs, etc.

[0032] The wireless communication module 13 is a communication device that performs wireless communication with a predetermined network. In this embodiment, the wireless communication module 13 is configured to be able to communicate with a predetermined cellular communication network. The wireless communication module 13 may be configured to include an eUICC (e.g., a SIM card). The SIM card is configured as a microcomputer equipped with a CPU and a storage device. The SIM card stores information for connecting to a cellular communication network and receiving authentication.

[0033] The inter-vehicle communication module 14 is a communication device for performing wireless communication between vehicles. The inter-vehicle communication module 14 can perform communication using, for example, a frequency band allocated exclusively for ITS. The in-vehicle device 10 can communicate with the in-vehicle device 10 mounted on another vehicle via the inter-vehicle communication module 14. The communication standard used by the inter-vehicle communication module 14 may be one that allows one-to-one communication, or may be one that allows any data to be broadcast.

[0034] The CAN communication module 15 is a communication interface for connecting the in-vehicle device 10 to an in-vehicle network of the vehicle 1. The CAN communication module 15 is, for example, a network interface that performs communication according to a CAN (Controller Area Network) protocol. The in-vehicle device 10 may be configured to include the following. The in-vehicle device 10 may perform data communication with other components (e.g., ECU, in-vehicle terminal, etc.) of the vehicle 1 via the CAN communication module 15. This can be done.

[0035] [Software configuration] Next, the software configuration of each device constituting the system will be described below. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic software configuration of the in-vehicle device 10 according to this embodiment.

[0036] In this embodiment, the control unit 11 of the in-vehicle device 10 is configured to have three software modules: a communication control unit 111, a notification unit 112, and a fault determination unit 113. Each software module may be realized by the control unit 11 (CPU, etc.) executing a program stored in the storage unit 12. Note that the information processing executed by the software modules is synonymous with the information processing executed by the control unit 11 (CPU, etc.).

[0037] The communication control unit 111 establishes a network connection with the outside of the vehicle in response to a request from a vehicle component possessed by the vehicle 1. For example, the communication control unit 111 receives a connection request to a specific server device (e.g., server device 2) from the vehicle component possessed by 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 and maintain a connection to a cellular communication network using a built-in SIM card or the like. In addition, the communication control unit 111 may establish a communication path to the server device 2 by using an established connection. Furthermore, the communication control unit 111 relays data transmitted and received between the vehicle components and the server device 2.

[0038] The notification unit 112 generates data related to the status of communication with the cellular communication network, and periodically broadcasts the data to other vehicles. The data generated and transmitted by the notification unit 112 is hereinafter referred to as notification data. The notification data is an example of "communication status data." For example, the notification unit 112 measures one or more numerical values ​​related to the quality of cellular communication, generates notification data including these values, and broadcasts the data.

[0039] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the notification data. As shown in the figure, the notification data includes fields for date and time, location information, VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), and measurement values. The date and time field is a field in which the date and time when the notification data was generated is stored. The location information field is a field in which data (latitude, longitude, etc.) indicating the location of the vehicle 1 is stored. The VIN field is a field in which an identifier that uniquely identifies the vehicle that generated the notification data is stored.

[0040] The measurement values ​​are values ​​related to the quality of cellular communication. In this embodiment, the following items are exemplified as the measurement values. ·RSSI(Received Signal Strength Indicator) Received power of radio waves transmitted from the base station [dBm] ·RSRP(Reference Signal Received Power) Received power in the reference signal band [dBm] ·RSRQ(Reference Signal Received Quality) An index of the quality of the received reference signal [dB] ·SINR(Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio) The ratio of the power of the desired signal to the power of other signals among the received signals [dB]

[0041] Although the above four items, i.e., the measured values ​​related to the state of radio waves, are exemplified here, the measured values ​​may include other values ​​as long as they can determine whether communication with the cellular communication network is normal or not. Examples of such values ​​include the packet loss rate and the response speed (ping value). The notification unit 112 periodically generates and broadcasts such notification data. The notification data broadcast by the notification unit 112 is received by the in-vehicle device 10 of the other vehicle and stored therein.

[0042] The fault determination unit 113 executes a process of determining whether or not a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network by using the notification data received from another vehicle when instructed by the communication control unit 111. For example, when normal communication with the cellular communication network cannot be performed, the communication control unit 111 issues the above-mentioned instruction and causes the fault determination unit 113 to perform the above-mentioned process. As described above, the notification data broadcast from other vehicles is stored in the storage unit 12 of the in-vehicle device 10. By referring to this data, it is possible to determine whether surrounding vehicles are also unable to communicate, or whether only the vehicle itself is unable to communicate for some reason. Based on this, it is also possible to determine whether a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0043] The determination of whether or not a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network can be made, for example, based on the following. (A) A certain percentage or more of the other vehicles are unable to communicate For example, if more than half of the vehicles in the vicinity are unable to communicate, it can be determined that a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network. (B) The measurement value showing an abnormal value is consistent between the vehicle and the other vehicle. Depending on the type of failure, different phenomena may occur, such as "the strength of the radio waves from the base station drops" or "the radio waves are strong but packets cannot be transmitted." Therefore, among the measurement values ​​contained in the notification data, those that show abnormal values ​​are extracted. Here, if the same measurement value shows an abnormal value in the vehicle itself and in other vehicles, it can be determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network. (C) The time when communication became unavailable is consistent between the vehicle and the other vehicles. For example, if it is recorded that communication was disabled between the vehicle itself and another vehicle at a certain time, it can be determined that a failure occurred in the cellular communication network at that time. (D) Communication is unavailable within the service area of ​​the cellular network. When communication becomes unavailable within the service area of ​​the cellular communication network, it can be determined that a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0044] When it is determined that a communication failure has occurred, the failure determination unit 113 can execute an action (recovery action) to deal with the failure. For example, the failure determination unit 113 may notify a vehicle occupant that a service is unavailable due to the communication failure. The recovery action may also be the provision of information for restoring communication. For example, when an alternative communication path other than that of the communication carrier in which the communication failure occurs is available, the vehicle occupant may be informed of how to use or set up the alternative communication path. For example, the vehicle occupant may be informed that communication will be possible by replacing the communication module with that of another communication carrier, or that communication will be possible by using tethering.

[0045] [flowchart] Next, the details of the process executed by the in-vehicle device 10 will be described. Fig. 5(A) is a flowchart of the process in which the in-vehicle device 10 generates and broadcasts notification data, and Fig. 5(B) is a flowchart of the process in which the in-vehicle device 10 determines whether there is a fault in the cellular communication network based on the received notification data. The processes shown in Fig. 5(A) and Fig. 5(B) are executed periodically.

[0046] The process of broadcasting the notification data will now be described. First, in step S11, the notification unit 112 acquires one or more measurement values ​​related to communication with a cellular communication network. The measurement values ​​may be, for example, values ​​measured in layers 1, 2, and 3 in a protocol stack for cellular communication. Next, in step S12, the notification unit 112 generates notification data including the acquired measurement values ​​and broadcasts this. The notification data is received by other vehicles 1 present within a predetermined range around the vehicle 1.

[0047] Next, a process for determining whether a fault exists in the cellular communication network will be described. First, in step S21, the communication control unit 111 determines whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the communication via the cellular communication network. For example, the communication control unit 111 determines that an abnormality has occurred in the communication via the cellular communication network when the throughput is continuously below a predetermined value, when the response time from the server exceeds a predetermined value, or when a correct response is not obtained from the server. If an abnormality occurs in communication via the cellular communication network, the communication control unit 111 instructs the fault determination unit 113 to perform a determination regarding the fault, and transitions the process to step S22. If an abnormality does not occur in communication via the cellular communication network, the process ends.

[0048] In step S22, the fault determining unit 113 refers to the notification data stored in the storage unit 12 and determines whether or not a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network. In this step, an evaluation value indicating the likelihood (certainty) of the occurrence of a communication failure may be calculated, and the determination may be made based on the evaluation value. The likelihood may be calculated based on the following criteria, for example.

[0049] (Criterion 1) The more other vehicles that have abnormalities in communication with the cellular communication network, the higher the likelihood. (Criterion 2) The more other vehicles that have the same evaluation value that indicates an abnormality as the evaluation value that indicates an abnormality in the own vehicle, the greater the likelihood. (Criterion 3) Determine the time when a certain evaluation value begins to show an abnormality, and increase the likelihood if there are more other vehicles that start to show the same evaluation value abnormality after that time.

[0050] In addition, in terms of freshness of information, notification data received before a certain time may not be used for the judgment in step S22. For example, notification data received more than five minutes ago may not be used for the judgment.

[0051] Furthermore, the measurement value may be weighted according to the time that has elapsed since the notification data was received. For example, the shorter the time that has elapsed since the notification data was received, the greater the weight that is assigned to the measurement value, and the shorter the time that has elapsed since the notification data was received, the smaller the weight that is assigned to the measurement value. Furthermore, if the vehicle is not within the service area of ​​the cellular communication network, the likelihood calculation (determination of the presence or absence of a fault) may not be performed at all.

[0052] If the calculated likelihood exceeds a predetermined threshold, it can be determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network.

[0053] Although the presence or absence of a fault is determined by comparing the likelihood with a threshold here, the presence or absence of a fault may be determined based on other conditions. For example, the ratio of the number of other vehicles that cannot normally communicate with the cellular communication network to the total number may be calculated, and if the ratio exceeds a predetermined value, it may be determined that a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network. The total number may be the number of vehicles with which communication has been established, or the number of vehicles estimated to be within a predetermined range centered on the vehicle.

[0054] If it is determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network (step S23-Yes), the process proceeds to step S24. If it is not determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network, the process ends.

[0055] In step S24, a recovery action is executed depending on the result of the determination. The recovery action is an action for dealing with the communication failure, and includes, for example, a notification that a communication failure has occurred, guidance on an alternative communication means, etc. For example, if a new communication line can be secured by inserting a communication module of a different carrier into the in-vehicle device, guidance on how to do so may be provided.

[0056] Furthermore, as one of the recovery actions, the fault determination unit 113 may notify other vehicles that "the vehicle has determined that a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network." For example, the result of the determination made in step S22 may be included in notification data to be transmitted next time or later.

[0057] If the calculated likelihood is below a predetermined value (step S23-No), it is assumed that communication is not possible due to a cause other than a fault in the cellular communication network. In this case, since a malfunction of the in-vehicle device 10 is suspected, information guiding a support desk such as a call center may be output.

[0058] As described above, in the vehicle communication system according to the first embodiment, each of the multiple vehicles exchanges data regarding the state of communication with the cellular communication network, and when a communication failure is suspected, the data is used to determine whether or not a communication failure has occurred. With this configuration, information for determining the occurrence of a communication failure can be shared between the vehicles, thereby improving the accuracy of failure occurrence detection.

[0059] (Modification 1 of the first embodiment) In the first embodiment, notification data is periodically broadcasted during normal operation, and each vehicle stores the data. When a communication failure is suspected, the stored notification data is used to determine whether a communication failure has occurred. However, the broadcast of notification data may be performed only when a communication failure is suspected. In this case, not receiving notification data from another vehicle means that the other vehicle is performing cellular communication normally.

[0060] In this modification, for example, before executing step S22, the notification unit 112 generates and broadcasts notification data. When notification data is not received from other vehicles, it is not determined that a communication failure has occurred. However, as notification data gradually accumulates, a determination similar to that in the first embodiment is made.

[0061] (Modification 2 of the first embodiment) In the first embodiment, the notification data is transmitted and received between vehicles by vehicle-to-vehicle communication. However, the notification data may be transmitted and received by a communication means other than vehicle-to-vehicle communication, such as V2X communication via infrastructure.

[0062] For example, if the in-vehicle device 10 has a communication module for road-to-vehicle communication, the in-vehicle device 10 may transmit notification data to a road side unit, which then transmits the notification data to other vehicles. The road side unit may retransmit notification data received from an arbitrary vehicle to other vehicles, or may generate statistical data based on notification data received from multiple vehicles and transmit the generated statistical data to other vehicles. The statistical data may indicate, for example, the proportion of vehicles with which communication is not normal relative to the total. The statistical data may also indicate statistics of measurement values ​​measured by each vehicle. The other vehicles may be aware that a communication abnormality is occurring in the other vehicles based on the statistical data. It can be recognized.

[0063] Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, the in-vehicle device 10 determines whether or not a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network based only on the notification data received from other vehicles. On the other hand, when there are multiple communication carriers, there are cases where other vehicles that receive the notification data are capable of cellular communication. For example, there are cases where a fault occurs in communication carrier A, but normal communication is possible with communication carrier B. In this case, a vehicle that can use communication carrier B may be able to accurately determine whether a fault has occurred by transferring the received notification data to an external server device.

[0064] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle communication system according to the second embodiment. The vehicle 1A has an in-vehicle device 10A that communicates via a communication carrier A. The vehicle 1B has an in-vehicle device 10B that communicates via a communication carrier B.

[0065] Now, let us assume that a failure occurs in communication carrier A. Vehicle 1A (vehicle-mounted device 10A) broadcasts notification data by the method described in the first embodiment, and vehicle 1B (vehicle-mounted device 10B) receives the notification data. Vehicle-mounted device 10B can perform cellular communication via communication carrier B, and can therefore transfer the notification data transmitted from vehicle-mounted device 10A to an external server device (referred to as server device 3). In this way, server device 3 can collect, via communication carrier B, the notification data transmitted from vehicles affected by the failure.

[0066] The notification data in the second embodiment may include an identifier for identifying a communication carrier. When the in-vehicle device 10B receives notification data having an identifier of a communication carrier other than the communication carrier used by the in-vehicle device 10B, the in-vehicle device 10B may transfer the notification data to the server device 3.

[0067] The server device 3 performs an analysis on the collected report data and generates a result (analysis data). The analysis data may indicate 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. The analysis data is transmitted to vehicle 1B via communication carrier B and reaches vehicle 1A via vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

[0068] In this way, according to the second embodiment, the result of the analysis performed by the server device 3 can be transmitted to the vehicle 1A, which allows the vehicle 1A to make a more accurate determination regarding a fault.

[0069] In the above example, the server device 3 generates the analysis data using the report data, but the server device 3 may obtain other 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 vehicles 1B and 1A instead of the analysis data. Furthermore, the server device 3 may notify the device associated with the communication carrier A when a fault is suspected in the communication carrier A.

[0070] Furthermore, when it is determined that a failure has occurred in communication carrier A, the server device 3 may issue authentication information (SIM profile) that can be temporarily used in an alternative communication carrier. In the example of FIG. 6, the server device 3 issues a SIM profile that can be temporarily used in communication carrier B and transmits it to vehicle 1A via vehicle 1B. The SIM profile may be, for example, a time-limited SIM profile. With this configuration, it is possible to provide an alternative communication path to the vehicle 1A.

[0071] (Modification) The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and the present disclosure can be modified and implemented as appropriate without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. For example, the processes and means described in this disclosure can be freely combined and implemented as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

[0072] In addition, in the description of the embodiment, each vehicle transmits notification data to other vehicles by broadcasting, but the notification data may be transmitted by other means as long as it is broadcast communication.

[0073] Furthermore, 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, the hardware configuration (server configuration) by which each function is realized can be flexibly changed.

[0074] The present disclosure can also be realized by supplying a computer program implementing the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and having one or more processors of the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer by a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium connectable to the system bus of the computer, or may be provided to the computer via a network. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media include, for example, any type of disk, such as a magnetic disk (floppy disk, hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), an optical disk (CD-ROM, DVD disk, Blu-ray disk, etc.), a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, an optical card, and any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0075] 1. Vehicle 2. Server device 10...In-vehicle equipment 11. Control section 12...Storage section 13 Wireless communication module 14. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication module 15 CAN communication module

Claims

1. An information processing device mounted on a vehicle, a first communication module for communicating with a cellular communication network; a second communication module for communicating between the vehicles; receiving communication status data relating to a status of communication with the cellular communication network from one or more other vehicles via the second communication module; determining whether or not a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network based on a state of communication via the first communication module and the communication state data; A control unit that executes the above. An information processing device having the above configuration.

2. 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. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

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

4. The control unit is Calculating a ratio of other vehicles that are not able to normally communicate with the cellular communication network based on the communication status data received from a plurality of other vehicles; If the ratio exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the cellular communication network. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

5. The control unit is Calculating a ratio of other vehicles that are not able to normally communicate with the cellular communication network based on the communication status data received from a plurality of other vehicles; determining that a fault has occurred in the cellular communication network when the vehicle is within a service area of ​​the cellular communication network and the ratio exceeds a predetermined value; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

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