Control device, information processing device, and control method and program thereof

Abstract

To provide a technology that can efficiently distribute information indicating that a detection target has been detected in a publish / subscribe type communication system.SOLUTION: A control device operates as a broker in a publish / subscribe type communication system. The control device accepts a subscribe request for a topic including identification information corresponding to a detection target from a user device that operates as a subscriber and transmits a delivery instruction for the topic to an information processing device capable of operating as a publisher that delivers a message on the topic when the detection target is detected.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a control device, an information processing device, and control methods and programs therefor.

Background Art

[0002] In publish / subscribe type communication, a publisher distributes a message with identification information called a topic, and a subscriber registers with a broker to receive the topic of the distribution that it wants to receive (Patent Document 3). As a result, it becomes possible for the publisher and the subscriber to communicate without being aware of each other. Thereby, advantages such as the scalability of the system and the ease of implementation can be obtained.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Here, there are cases where a subscriber may want to obtain, by distribution, information indicating that a publisher has detected a predetermined detection target. In such a case, there has been a problem that it is impossible to grasp a subscriber that distributes information from a publisher or a publisher that a subscriber wants to distribute information, and it is impossible to efficiently distribute information.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a technology capable of efficiently distributing information indicating that a detection target has been detected in a communication system that performs publish / subscribe type communication.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a control device according to the present invention is a control device that operates as a broker in a publish / subscribe type communication system, a receiving means for receiving a subscription request for a topic including identification information of a detection target from a user device operating as a subscriber, After receiving the subscription request, being operable as a publisher that distributes a message on the topic when the detection target is detected wherein the distribution process as the publisher has not started a transmitting means for transmitting an instruction to distribute the topic to an information processing device, and comprising 、 the detection target is a moving body, the communication system is an automatic valet parking system, further comprising a movement instruction means for transmitting information specifying the destination of the moving body to the moving body characterized by the above.

Effects of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technology capable of efficiently distributing information indicating that a detection target has been detected in a communication system that performs publish / subscribe type communication.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and not all combinations of the features described in the present embodiment are essential for the solution means of the present invention.

[0010] <First Embodiment> In recent years, a traffic system has been proposed that enables traffic information to be obtained using images and sensor information acquired by cameras and sensors installed near vehicle driving roads (Patent Document 2).

[0011] In addition, there is an automatic valet parking system that uses communication between infrastructure and vehicles to move vehicles without a driver and autonomously park in available parking spaces (Patent Document 3).

[0012] By introducing the above traffic system into the above automatic valet parking system, detecting the position of the vehicle in the parking lot with a camera or the like, and notifying the user of the vehicle of the position information of the vehicle, the user can grasp the state of the vehicle during parking and the state of the vehicle such as the parking position.

[0013] In this case, for example, it is necessary to share the setting content of the topic between a publisher such as a surveillance camera and a subscriber such as the smartphone of the vehicle owner before communication. However, in an environment such as a parking lot where an unspecified number of vehicles come and go, it is impossible to grasp in advance which subscribers will participate in the system, and it is difficult to appropriately share the setting content of the topic in advance.

[0014] For example, a method of sharing in advance a topic whose content is to transmit all vehicle positions recognized by a surveillance camera can be considered. However, in this case, since processing is performed on all recognized vehicles, the processing load on the surveillance camera side increases. In addition, there is a problem that the efficiency is poor because the position information of vehicles that are not required on the smartphone side is also transmitted and received.

[0015] As described above, in an environment where the configuration of the subscriber changes, there is a problem that no means is defined for appropriately determining the topic setting and sharing it between the publisher and the subscriber.

[0016] In order to solve such problems, in the first embodiment, an example of a communication system that performs publish / subscribe type communication will be described by taking a mobile body management system, which is an automatic valet parking system that supports the autonomous parking of the above vehicle, as an example.

[0017] In this embodiment, the mobile object management system distributes information to a user device operating as a subscriber that a vehicle has been detected as a mobile object to be detected. A control device operating as a broker supports automatic valet parking, and instructs a publisher to distribute information about a vehicle that the subscriber wishes to detect based on a process described later. In addition, a surveillance camera, which is an example of an information processing device operating as a publisher, detects information such as the position of a vehicle, and distributes a message via publish / subscribe type communication. This allows a user of the vehicle to easily grasp the status of the vehicle by receiving the distributed information on a user device such as a smartphone.

[0018] (System Configuration) 1 is a configuration diagram showing a communication system according to this embodiment. A communication system 101 performing publish / subscribe type communication is an automatic valet parking system. The communication system 101 includes a control device 105 that operates as a broker, and surveillance cameras 103 and 104 that serve as information processing devices that can operate as publishers.

[0019] Furthermore, when a vehicle 102 capable of autonomous driving joins the communication system 101, the communication system 101 transmits information to assist autonomous driving to the vehicle 102. Furthermore, a smartphone 108 as a user device that is owned by a user of the vehicle 102 and operates as a subscriber transmits position information of the vehicle 102 and the like via the communication system, which indicates a state in which the vehicle 102 is autonomously driving within the automated valet parking system 101.

[0020] In addition, multiple surveillance cameras 103, 104 are installed in the parking lot where the communication system 101 is applied, and the control device 105 grasps the behavior of the autonomously driving vehicle 102 from the images captured by the surveillance cameras installed at various locations.

[0021] In this embodiment, the vehicle 102 automatically travels to a designated parking position in the parking lot under the control of the control device 105 of the automatic valet parking system. The control message regarding the automatic driving transmitted from the control device 105 to the vehicle 102 is delivered to the vehicle 102 by wireless communication via the communication network 106 and the base station 107. In one example, the control message may be a movement instruction including position information indicating the destination the vehicle 102 is heading to, or a steering instruction including steering information such as a right turn or a left turn that the vehicle 102 should execute. Also, the vehicle 102 transmits its own state information and the like to the control device 105 by wireless communication via the base station 107.

[0022] The monitoring cameras 103 and 104 are installed in the parking lot, photograph the traffic situation in the parking lot, and further analyze the vehicles traveling by image processing from the photographed imaging data, and can notify other devices of the analysis results.

[0023] Also, when the monitoring camera detects the vehicle 102, it has a function of distributing information regarding the vehicle 102 to the smartphone 108 owned by the owner of the vehicle 102 via the communication network 106 and the base station 107. That is, the monitoring camera can operate as a publisher in the communication system 101 that performs publish / subscribe type communication.

[0024] The above distribution function is realized by publish / subscribe type message exchange via the control device 105. That is, in this embodiment, the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 are publishers, the control device 105 is a broker, the smartphone 108 is a subscriber, and message exchange using topics is performed.

[0025] In this embodiment, for example, after the vehicle 102 is stored in the automatic valet parking system 101, the owner of the vehicle 102 may start using the above distribution function by operating the smartphone 108. Also, for example, when the vehicle 102 is taken out of the automatic valet parking system 101, the owner of the vehicle 102 may stop using the above distribution function by operating the smartphone 108. Further, in one example, based on the position information acquired by the smartphone 108, when the smartphone 108 or the vehicle 102 enters within a range of a predetermined position, the use of the above distribution function may be started by communicating with the control device 105. Alternatively, the communication system 101 may include a detection device that detects that the smartphone 108 participates as a subscriber in the communication system 101 by a short-range wireless communication method such as an RFID tag. In this case, the smartphone 108 may start using the above distribution function based on a predetermined operation such as the user holding the smartphone 108 over the detection device.

[0026] Subsequently, the configurations of the surveillance cameras 103 and 104, the control device 105, and the smartphone 108 according to this embodiment will be described. Note that the configurations described below are merely examples, and at least a part of the described configurations may be replaced with or omitted by other configurations that perform similar functions, and further configurations may be added to the described configurations. Furthermore, one block shown in the following description may be divided into a plurality of blocks, or a plurality of blocks may be integrated into one block. Similarly, at least some of the functions may be realized by other devices, or one function may be realized by a plurality of devices.

[0027] (Configuration of Smartphone) FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the smartphone 108 in this embodiment. The smartphone 108 includes a display unit 201, a storage unit 202, a message processing unit 203, a communication unit 204, and a control unit 205.

[0028] The display unit 201 is a display device that displays information to the user. In this embodiment, for example, notification processing is performed to display the position information of the vehicle 102 received from the monitoring camera to the user. The storage unit 202 is a storage device that stores topic information and the like necessary for publish / subscribe type communication. Various data such as programs executed by the control unit 205 and information regarding the vehicle 102 are stored in the storage unit 202.

[0029] The message processing unit 203 is a message processing unit that realizes message communication in accordance with publish / subscribe type communication. In this embodiment, the message processing unit 203 realizes the processing on the subscriber side.

[0030] The communication unit 204 is a communication unit that transmits messages generated by the message processing unit, messages generated by the control unit 206, etc. via the base station 107 by public wireless communication. The communication unit 204 is also responsible for the process of receiving messages etc. from other devices via the base station 107.

[0031] The control unit 205 is a control unit that controls and performs each function in the smartphone.

[0032] (Configuration of the control device) FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the control device 105 in this embodiment. The control device 105 includes a broker unit 301, a storage unit 302, a communication unit 303, an automatic driving control unit 304, and a control unit 305.

[0033] The broker unit 301 mediates communication between the publisher device and the subscriber device in publish / subscribe type communication via the communication unit 303.

[0034] An example of the process executed by the broker unit 301 is described below. When the broker unit 301 receives a subscription registration request (subscription request) transmitted from another device, it associates the device with an IP address, port number, etc. and a desired topic, and stores the association in the storage unit 302. Further, when the broker unit 301 receives a distribution request from another device, if it has received a subscription registration request for the topic of the distribution request, it distributes a message to the device. That is, the broker unit 301 functions as a reception unit that receives subscription request messages and a transfer unit that transfers messages from the publisher.

[0035] The communication unit 303 includes a wireless communication circuit, and performs transmission and reception of publish / subscribe type messages such as reception of subscription requests processed by the broker unit 301 and transmission of publish requests.

[0036] The automatic driving control unit 304 transmits and receives control messages for controlling the automatic driving of a vehicle traveling in the parking lot. The control device 105 controls the automatic driving of the vehicle 102 based on information acquired from a monitoring camera or the vehicle, and guides the vehicle 102 by instructing the vehicle 102 to a desired parking position in the parking lot.

[0037] The control unit 305 controls each function in the above-described control device 105 and performs control. In one example, the control unit 305 includes a processor and a memory.

[0038] (Configuration of Monitoring Camera) FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 in the present embodiment. The monitoring cameras 103 and 104 each include a camera control unit 401, a storage unit 402, a video analysis unit 403, a message processing unit 404, a communication unit 405, and a control unit 406.

[0039] The camera control unit 401 executes general processing of camera functions such as video shooting, and acquires video data from an imaging device such as a camera. In one example, the camera control unit 401 may control the magnification such as zooming in or zooming out, or may control the shooting range when the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 are provided with movable parts capable of controlling the shooting range.

[0040] The storage unit 402 stores information related to the camera function, the position information of the camera device, or a correspondence table of vehicle identifiers and topic names included in the distribution instruction transmitted from the control device 105 described later. In addition, various data used for the operations of the monitoring cameras 103 and 104, such as programs executed by the control unit 406, are stored.

[0041] The video analysis unit 403 analyzes the video acquired from the camera via the camera control unit 401. Specifically, the video analysis unit 403 has a function of detecting a vehicle traveling in the parking lot from the captured video and acquiring the identification information of the vehicle. In one example, the identification information of the vehicle is the vehicle registration number of the vehicle. Also, the identification information of the vehicle may be the vehicle type of the vehicle.

[0042] The message processing unit 404 executes message communication in accordance with publish / subscribe type communication. The message processing unit 404 realizes the processing on the publisher side, and generates a message for distributing the message based on the analysis result by the video analysis unit 403. Details of the distribution process will be described later.

[0043] The communication unit 405 transmits and receives messages and the like generated by the message processing unit 404 to and from other devices of the communication system 101. The control unit 406 is a control unit that controls and performs each function in the above-described monitoring cameras 103 and 104. In one example, the control unit 406 includes a processor and a memory.

[0044] (Example of processing when a registration request is received) FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the processing when a registration request is received, which is executed by the control device 105 according to the present embodiment.

[0045] In this embodiment, the process at the time of receiving a registration request is started by the control unit 305 when the control device 105 receives a registration request from the smartphone 108. Also, FIG. 5 is performed by the control unit 305 reading and executing a computer program stored in the storage unit 302.

[0046] The registration request in this embodiment is transmitted for the purpose of requesting the broker (control device 105) from the subscriber (smartphone 108) to subscribe and register for a specified topic. The deregistration request can be transmitted using, for example, the SUBSCRIBE message of the MQTT (Message Queueing Telemetry Transport) protocol. Also, the deregistration request is also called an unsubscribe request.

[0047] First, in step S501 (hereinafter simply referred to as S501; the same applies to other processing steps), the control unit 305 checks whether the topic name included in the registration request includes the vehicle identification information. For the content of the topic name to be checked in S501, for example, when the registration request includes a topic starting with "Carnum / ", the control unit 305 may determine that it includes the vehicle identification information. The smartphone 108 may transmit, for example, a registration request designating "Carnum / NEWYORK_ABC2345" as the topic. In this case, it is assumed that it is a registration request for subscribing to a topic related to the vehicle with the vehicle identifier "NEWYORK_ABC2345".

[0048] Note that in this embodiment, it is assumed that it is pre-shared within the communication system 101 of the subscriber, broker, and publisher that a topic starting with "Carnum / " includes the vehicle identification information.

[0049] When the topic does not include vehicle identification information (No in S501), the control unit 305 determines that a normal registration request has been received and performs normal subscription registration processing (S502). That is, when the broker receives a registration request message from the publisher that does not include vehicle identification information in the topic, the broker performs routing setting to transfer the message to the subscriber who is the source of the registration request.

[0050] For the routing setting, for example, the topic name included in the registration request and the information of the subscriber who is the source of the registration request may be registered in a routing table that associates the topic with the IP address and port number of the transfer destination device, etc.

[0051] Thereby, when the broker receives a message including a topic name from the publisher, by referring to the routing table, the broker can transfer the message to the subscribed subscriber.

[0052] When the topic included in the registration request is a topic that has not been shared in advance between devices, the broker may determine that it is an illegal registration request and not perform routing setting. That is, when the topic included in the registration request is neither a topic registered by the publisher nor a topic that does not start with the above-mentioned "Carnum / ", the broker may not perform routing setting for the registration request.

[0053] When the topic includes vehicle identification information (Yes in S501), the control unit 305 subscribes and registers the subscriber who is the source of the registration request to the topic with the topic name included in the registration request (S503). That is, when the broker receives a message including the topic name included in the registration request from the publisher, the broker performs routing setting to transfer the message to the subscriber who is the source of the registration request.

[0054] The routing setting may register, for example, the topic included in the registration request and the IP address of the subscriber who is the source of the registration request in the routing table of the storage unit 302 that associates the topic with the IP address of the destination device.

[0055] After registration, the control unit 305 sends a registration request response to the subscriber who is the source of the registration request (S504). The registration request response in this embodiment is sent as a confirmation response to the registration request from the subscriber. The registration request response may be sent using, for example, the SUBACK message of the MQTT protocol.

[0056] Subsequently, the control unit 305 checks whether the topic included in the registration request has been registered by another subscriber (S505). That is, the control unit 305 refers to the routing table described in S503 and checks whether the topic included in the registration request is associated with a subscriber other than the subscriber who is the source of the registration request.

[0057] If the topic has not been registered by another subscriber (No in S505), the control unit 305 sends a distribution instruction for instructing the distribution of the topic included in the registration request to the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 (S506).

[0058] The distribution instruction transmitted in S506 includes at least the topic of the information to be distributed. Also, the distribution instruction may be transmitted to each monitoring camera installed in the parking lot from the control device 105 by unicast communication, or may be distributed to each monitoring camera by broadcast communication.

[0059] If the topic of the registration request has been registered by another subscriber (Yes in S505), the control unit 305 determines that the distribution instruction for the topic has already been transmitted and ends the process. Following S506, the control unit 305 waits for a distribution instruction response from the publisher, and ends the process when distribution instruction responses from all publishers have been received (S507).

[0060] (Example of Processing upon Receiving a Distribution Instruction) FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the processing upon receiving a distribution instruction executed by the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 in the present embodiment.

[0061] In the present embodiment, the processing upon receiving a distribution instruction is started by the control unit 406 when the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 receive a distribution instruction from the control device 105. Further, FIG. 6 is performed by the control unit 406 reading and executing a computer program stored in the storage unit 402.

[0062] After the start of the processing, the control unit 406 extracts the identification information of the vehicle from the topic included in the distribution instruction, and registers the topic and the vehicle identification information in association with each other in the information table stored in the storage unit 402 (S601).

[0063] An example of the information table associating the vehicle identification information and the topic is shown in FIG. 7. In the distribution processing described later, the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 perform distribution on the topic corresponding to the detected vehicle by referring to the information table. After the registration, the control unit 406 transmits a response to the distribution instruction to the control device 105 (S602).

[0064] The response transmitted in S602 may be transmitted when the registration process in S601 is completed normally. Alternatively, the response may be transmitted including the processing result.

[0065] (Processing upon Detecting a Vehicle) FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the processing upon detecting a vehicle executed by the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 according to the present embodiment.

[0066] In the present embodiment, the processing upon detecting a vehicle is started by the control unit 406 when the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 detect a vehicle from the captured image. Further, FIG. 8 is performed by the control unit 406 reading and executing a computer program stored in the storage unit 402.

[0067] First, the control unit 406 extracts the detected vehicle identification information from the captured image (S801). After the extraction, the control unit 406 refers to the information table stored in the storage unit 402 and checks whether the extracted vehicle identifier is registered in the information table (S802).

[0068] If it is registered in the information table (Yes in S802), the control unit 406 distributes (publishes) the position information of the detected vehicle using the topic corresponding to the extracted vehicle identifier and ends the process (S803).

[0069] Note that the position information of the vehicle distributed in S803 may be calculated and distributed by calculating the geographical position of the vehicle from the captured image. Also, as the position information of the vehicle, the position information of the detected camera may be distributed. As the position information of the camera, the position information of the camera measured in advance by GPS or the like may be stored in the storage unit S402. Alternatively, for example, it may be character information recognizable by the user for the position of the vehicle on the smartphone 108, such as "surveillance camera at point A on the second floor of the parking lot". Alternatively, in S803, in addition to the position information, the image data captured by the camera may be distributed together.

[0070] (Processing when a registration cancellation request is received) FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the processing when a registration cancellation request is received, which is executed by the control device 105 according to the present embodiment.

[0071] In the present embodiment, the processing when a registration cancellation request is received is started by the control unit 305 when the control device 105 receives a registration cancellation request from the smartphone 108. Also, FIG. 5 is performed by the control unit 305 reading and executing the computer program stored in the storage unit 302.

[0072] In the present embodiment, the registration cancellation request is transmitted for the purpose of requesting the broker to cancel the registration of the topic being registered from the subscriber. The registration cancellation request may be transmitted using, for example, the UNSUBSCRIBE message of the MQTT protocol.

[0073] The control unit 305 cancels the subscription registration (subscription) of the subscriber who is the message sender for the topic included in the deregistration request (S901). After the cancellation, the control unit 305 sends a deregistration request response to the subscriber who is the sender of the deregistration request (S902). The deregistration request response in this embodiment is sent as a confirmation response to the deregistration request from the subscriber. The deregistration request response may be sent using, for example, the UNSUBACK message of the MQTT protocol.

[0074] The control unit 305 checks whether the subscription registrations of all subscribers have been cancelled from the topic included in the deregistration request (S903). If the subscription registrations of all subscribers have been cancelled (Yes in S903), the control unit 305 sends a delivery stop instruction instructing the publisher to stop delivering the topic included in the deregistration request and ends the process (S904).

[0075] The delivery stop instruction sent in S904 includes at least the topic for which delivery is to be stopped. Also, the delivery stop instruction may be sent by unicast communication from the control device 105 to each monitoring camera installed in the parking lot, or may be distributed to each monitoring camera by broadcast communication.

[0076] (Example of processing when receiving a delivery presentation instruction) FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the processing when receiving a delivery stop instruction performed by the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the processing when receiving a delivery stop instruction is started by the control unit 406 when the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 receive a delivery stop instruction from the control device 105. Also, FIG. 6 is performed by the control unit 406 reading and executing a computer program stored in the storage unit 402.

[0077] The control unit 406 extracts the vehicle identification information from the topic included in the distribution stop instruction, and deletes the entry corresponding to the vehicle identification information extracted from the information table stored in the storage unit 402 (S1001). As a result, since the distribution process described in S803 is no longer executed, the distribution process for the specified vehicle identifier can be stopped.

[0078] After the deletion, the control unit 406 transmits a distribution stop instruction response to the broker and ends the process (S1002). The distribution stop instruction response transmitted in S1002 may be transmitted when the deletion process in S1001 is successfully completed. Alternatively, the processing result may be included and transmitted during the response.

[0079] (Processing example of communication system) FIG. 11 shows the sequence of the processing operations in the present embodiment.

[0080] The smartphone 108 transmits a registration request to the control device 105 for registration to the topic for distributing the information of the vehicle 102 (S1101).

[0081] In S1101, for example, when the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 102 is "NEWYORK_ABC2345", a registration request designating "Carnum / NEWYORK_ABC2345" as the topic is transmitted.

[0082] When the control device 105 receives the registration request, it executes the processing at the time of receiving the registration request in FIG. 5, and registers the smartphone 108 to the topic included in the registration request (S1102, S503).

[0083] After the registration to the topic, the control device 105 transmits a registration request response to the smartphone 108 (S1103, S504).

[0084] The control device 105 confirms that the topic included in the registration request has not already been registered by another subscriber (No in S505), and transmits a distribution instruction to the monitoring cameras 103 and 104 (S1104, S1107, S506) When the surveillance cameras 103 and 104 receive a distribution instruction at S1104 and S1107, they execute the processing at the time of receiving the distribution instruction in FIG. 6, and register by associating the topic name with the identification information of the vehicle in the information table stored in the storage unit 402 (S1105, S1108, S601).

[0085] After registering the identification information of the vehicle, the surveillance cameras 103 and 104 transmit a response to the distribution instruction to the control device 105 (S1106, S1109, S602).

[0086] After transmitting the response, the surveillance cameras 103 and 104 detect the target vehicle from the captured image. When a vehicle is detected from the captured image, the processing at the time of vehicle detection in FIG. 8 is executed (S1110).

[0087] The surveillance cameras 103 and 104 extract the vehicle identifier of the detected vehicle from the captured image (S802), and when confirming the match with the information registered in the information table, distribute the position information of the vehicle (S1111, S803).

[0088] The control device 105 transfers the distributed information to the smartphone 108 (S1112). As a result, the user of the smartphone 108 can confirm the position information of the vehicle 102.

[0089] When the user wishes to take out the vehicle 102 from the parking lot or the like, the user's smartphone 108 transmits a request to cancel the registration of the topic for distributing the information of the vehicle 102 to the control device 105 (S1113). When the control device 105 receives the cancellation request, it executes the processing at the time of receiving the cancellation request in FIG. 9, and cancels the subscription registration of the smartphone 108 corresponding to the topic included in the registration request (S1114, S901). After the cancellation, the control device 105 transmits a cancellation request response to the smartphone 108 (S1115, S902).

[0090] The control device 105 confirms that the registration of all subscribers has been cancelled (Yes in S903), and transmits an instruction to stop the distribution of the topic to the surveillance cameras 103 and 104 (S1116, S1119, S904). When receiving the distribution stop instruction, the surveillance cameras 103 and 104 execute the processing at the time of receiving the distribution stop instruction in FIG. 10, and delete the entry corresponding to the vehicle identifier extracted from the distribution stop instruction from the information table (S1117, S1120, S1001). After the deletion, the surveillance cameras 103 and 104 transmit a distribution stop instruction response to the broker (S1118, S1121, S1002).

[0091] As described above, it becomes possible for the publisher and the subscriber to exchange messages for dynamically sharing the content of the topic via the broker. Thereby, it becomes possible to distribute only the position information of the vehicle required by the user of the smartphone from the surveillance camera to the smartphone by the publish / subscribe type communication.

[0092] <Second Embodiment> In the first embodiment, an example in which the communication system of the automatic valet parking system distributes position information regarding a vehicle via publish / subscribe type communication has been described.

[0093] In the second embodiment, a process of notifying that a detection target has been detected via publish / subscribe type communication will be described by taking as an example a management system of an information processing device in a data center. Note that the same reference numerals are used to refer to the same configurations, functions, and processes as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0094] In the management system 1200 in the data center, the operation of the computers 1202 and 1203 in operation is managed via sensor nodes having a communication function. In FIG. 12, the temperature sensors 1204 and 1205, and the device temperature sensors 1206 and 1207 correspond to sensor nodes (hereinafter, may be referred to as sensor nodes 1204 to 1207 without distinction). Here, the temperature sensors 1204 and 1205 are sensors that detect the temperature of the data center, and the device temperature sensors 1206 and 1207 are sensors that detect the temperature inside devices such as the storage devices and processors of the computers 1202 and 1203, respectively. In the present embodiment, the sensor nodes 1204 to 1207 operate as publishers in publish / subscribe type communication. Also, the smartphones 1208 and 1209 of users A and B operate as subscribers in publish / subscribe type communication. Further, the control device 1201 operates as a broker in publish / subscribe type communication.

[0095] Here, consider users A and B having different management purposes. User A is a user who is responsible for, for example, air conditioning management, with the aim of detecting that the temperature in the data center has reached a predetermined temperature or higher. User B is a user who is responsible for, for example, device maintenance management, with the aim of detecting that the temperatures of the computers 1202 and 1203 have reached a predetermined temperature or higher.

[0096] In this case, users A and B have different detection targets. In this embodiment, user A hopes to distribute the location information when the room temperature becomes higher than 20 degrees, and user B hopes to distribute the device information when the device temperature becomes higher than 80 degrees. In this case, the smartphone 1208 may send a registration request including "airtemp / more20" to the control device 1201 as a topic. Note that this topic is a combination of "airtemp" indicating that the detection target is related to the room temperature and "more20" indicating that the condition is 20 degrees or higher. On the other hand, the smartphone 1209 may send a registration request including "devtemp / more80" to the control device 1201 as a topic. Note that this topic is a combination of "devtemp" indicating that the detection target is related to the device temperature and "more80" indicating that the condition is 80 degrees or higher.

[0097] When the control device 1201 receives a registration request, if "airtemp" is included in the topic, it sends a distribution instruction to the air temperature sensors 1204 and 1205. On the other hand, if "devtemp" is included in the topic, it sends a distribution instruction to the device temperature sensors 1206 and 1207. That is, the control device 1201 may select an information processing device operable as a publisher that sends a distribution instruction according to the topic of the received registration request. Thereby, it is possible to suppress an increase in the detection targets that the information processing devices in the communication system have to detect.

[0098] Also, although the detection target has been described as detecting a vehicle in the first embodiment, it may be an event such as the air temperature or the device temperature becoming equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

[0099] Also, in the first embodiment, the information processing device that detects the detection target has been described as a surveillance camera that detects the detection target based on imaging data, but it may be detected by another detection device such as a sensor.

[0100] <Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented in various modifications, and is applicable to various embodiments without departing from the gist thereof. For example, by specifying a topic name including information for identifying a person as identification information from a subscriber, information regarding the person may be distributed from a publisher.

[0101] In the first embodiment, the surveillance cameras 103 and 104 have been described as identifying the identification information of the vehicle 102 based on image recognition. In one example, data used for image recognition may be received from the smartphone 108 via the control device 105. In this case, the identification information of the vehicle can be specified by comparing, for example, the similarity between the image received from the smartphone 108 and the image data acquired by the surveillance cameras 103 and 104.

[0102] The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and having one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. Further, it can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0103] The invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, claims are attached to disclose the scope of the invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0104] 101 Communication system, 102 Vehicle, 103, 104 Surveillance cameras, 105 Control device, 106 Communication network, 107 Base station, 108 Smartphone

Claims

1. A control device that operates as a broker in a publish / subscribe type communication system, comprising: a receiving means for receiving a subscription request for a topic including identification information of a detection target from a user device operating as a subscriber; after receiving the subscription request, an information processing device that is operable as a publisher that distributes a message on the topic when the detection target is detected, and that has not started the distribution process as the publisher, and a transmitting means for transmitting a distribution instruction for the topic; comprising wherein the detection target is a moving body; wherein the communication system is an automatic valet parking system; and further comprising a movement instruction means for transmitting information specifying a movement destination of the moving body to the moving body. A control device characterized by this.

2. a receiving means for receiving the message of the topic from the information processing device; a transfer means for transferring the message received by the receiving means to the user device; The control device according to claim 1, characterized by comprising.

3. The control device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a registration means for registering, as a topic to be distributed, the topic included in the subscription request when the receiving means receives the subscription request.

4. The control device according to claim 3, wherein the registration means cancels registration of the topic included in the subscription request from the topics to be distributed when the receiving means receives a registration cancellation request for the topic from the user device.

5. The receiving means further receives a subscription stop request for the topic from the user device; The transmitting means further transmits a stop instruction for message distribution on the topic to the information processing device. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by this.

6. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the message includes at least any one of position information of the information processing device, identification information of the information processing device, and position information of the moving body.

7. The information processing device includes a camera for acquiring imaging data of the detected moving body; The control device according to claim 1, wherein the message includes the imaging data of the moving body.

8. An information processing apparatus that is operable as a publisher in a publish / subscribe type communication system and has hardware for obtaining information for detecting a detection target from the outside, detection means for detecting a detection target using the hardware; distribution means for distributing a message in a topic including identification information corresponding to the detection target when receiving a message distribution instruction in the topic from a control device operating as a broker, and when the detection target is detected by the detection means; comprising: the detection target is a moving body; the hardware is a camera; the detection means acquires imaging data of the moving body using the camera, and detects the moving body based on the acquired imaging data; the communication system is an automatic valet parking system; the information processing apparatus is characterized in that a plurality of the information processing apparatuses are provided in a parking lot.

9. The distribution means further receives a distribution stop instruction for the topic from the control device, The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the distribution of the message in the topic is stopped in response to the received distribution stop instruction.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the distribution means distributes the message including at least a part of the acquired imaging data.

11. A control method of a control device operating as a broker in a publish / subscribe type communication system, receiving a subscription request for a topic including identification information corresponding to a detection target from a user device operating as a subscriber; after receiving the subscription request, transmitting a distribution instruction for the topic to an information processing apparatus that is operable as a publisher for distributing a message in the topic when the detection target is detected and that has not started the distribution process as the publisher; including: the detection target is a moving body; the communication system is an automatic valet parking system; The control method further includes moving instruction means for transmitting information for designating a moving destination of the moving body to the moving body.

12. A control method of an information processing apparatus that is operable as a publisher in a publish / subscribe type communication system and has hardware for obtaining information for detecting a detection target from the outside, detecting a detection target using the hardware; when receiving a message delivery instruction in a topic including identification information corresponding to the detection target from a control device operating as a broker, and when the detection target is detected, delivering a message in the topic corresponding to the detection target; including; the detection target is a moving object; the hardware is a camera; detecting includes acquiring imaging data of the moving object using the camera and detecting the moving object based on the acquired imaging data; the communication system is an automatic valet parking system; a control method, characterized in that a plurality of the information processing devices are provided in a parking lot.

13. A program executed by a control device operating as a broker in a publish / subscribe type communication system, a receiving step of receiving a subscription request for a topic including identification information corresponding to a detection target from a user device operating as a subscriber; after receiving the subscription request, being operable as a publisher to deliver a message in the topic when the detection target is detected, and transmitting a delivery instruction for the topic to an information processing device that has not started the delivery process as the publisher; including; the detection target is a moving object; the communication system is an automatic valet parking system; A program, further comprising moving instruction means for transmitting information specifying a destination of the moving object to the moving object.

14. A program for an information processing device operable as a publisher in a publish / subscribe type communication system and having hardware for obtaining information for detecting a detection target from the outside, a detection step of detecting a detection target using the hardware; a delivery step of delivering a message in a topic including identification information corresponding to the detection target when receiving a message delivery instruction in the topic from a control device operating as a broker and when the detection target is detected; including; the detection target is a moving object; the hardware is a camera; in the detection step, acquiring imaging data of the moving object using the camera and detecting the moving object based on the acquired imaging data The communication system is an automatic valet parking system, wherein the information processing device is a program characterized in that a plurality of the information processing devices are provided in a parking lot.

15. A control device that operates as a broker in a publish / subscribe type communication system, a receiving means for receiving a subscribe request for a topic including identification information of a detection target from a user device operating as a subscriber, after receiving the subscribe request, an information processing device that is operable as a publisher that distributes a message on the topic when the detection target is detected and that has not started the distribution process as the publisher, and a transmitting means for transmitting a distribution instruction for the topic to the information processing device, comprising: wherein the detection target is a vehicle, and the identification information corresponds to the vehicle registration number of the vehicle. The control device is characterized by this.

16. A control device that operates as a broker in a publish / subscribe type communication system, a receiving means for receiving a subscribe request for a topic including identification information of a detection target from a user device operating as a subscriber, after receiving the subscribe request, an information processing device that is operable as a publisher that distributes a message on the topic when the detection target is detected and that has not started the distribution process as the publisher, and a transmitting means for transmitting a distribution instruction for the topic to the information processing device, comprising: wherein the detection target is a moving body, the information processing device includes a camera for acquiring imaging data of the detected moving body, the message includes the imaging data of the moving body, further having an acquisition means for acquiring the image data of the moving body from the user device, the transmitting means further transmits the image data to the information processing device, wherein the information processing device detects the moving body based on the image data. The control device is characterized by this.

17. An information processing device that is operable as a publisher in a publish / subscribe type communication system and has hardware for obtaining information for detecting a detection target from the outside, a detection means for detecting a detection target using the hardware, When receiving a message delivery instruction in a topic including identification information corresponding to the detection target from a control device operating as a broker, and when the detection target is detected by the detection means, a delivery means for delivering a message in the topic corresponding to the detection target; comprising; the detection target is a vehicle; the hardware is a camera; the detection means acquires imaging data of the vehicle using the camera, and detects the vehicle based on the acquired imaging data; the identification information includes the vehicle registration number of the vehicle; the detection means specifies the vehicle registration number of the vehicle by image processing. An information processing apparatus characterized by this.

18. An information processing apparatus operable as a publisher in a publish / subscribe type communication system, having hardware for obtaining information from the outside for detecting a detection target, a detection means for detecting a detection target using the hardware; When receiving a message delivery instruction in a topic including identification information corresponding to the detection target from a control device operating as a broker, and when the detection target is detected by the detection means, a delivery means for delivering a message in the topic corresponding to the detection target; comprising; the detection target is a moving body; the hardware is a camera; the detection means acquires imaging data of the moving body using the camera, and detects the moving body based on the acquired imaging data; the detection means acquires image data of the moving body from the control device, and detects the moving body based on a comparison between the imaging data and the image data. An information processing apparatus characterized by this.

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