Information processing apparatus

Abstract

To suppress a situation where a thing-left-behind is present inside a vehicle.SOLUTION: An information processor comprises a first acquisition part for acquiring first signal intensity information indicating an intensity of a reception signal received from a first radio transmitter by a radio receiver, from each of three or more radio receivers thereof; a second acquisition part for acquiring second signal intensity information indicating an intensity of a reception signal received from a second radio transmitter by the radio receiver, from each of the three or more radio receivers; a calculation part for calculating first positional information indicating a position where the first radio transmitter is present based on the first signal intensity information, and second positional information indicating a position where the second radio transmitter is present based on the second signal intensity information; and an output part for outputting notification information to a portable communication device, when no position indicated in the first positional information is included in an area inside a vehicle, and the position indicated in the second positional information is included in the area inside the vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a technique for specifying the distance to an object existing around a vehicle by performing short-range communication has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for determining whether a mobile communication device that transmitted a signal exists around a vehicle according to a change in the intensity of a received signal received by an antenna.

[0003] Specifically, Patent Document 1 describes that by arranging a plurality of antennas with a shift in the vehicle width direction, overlapping of minima in the power attenuation curve is suppressed. Then, it determines whether a mobile communication device exists around the vehicle according to whether the signal intensities of the plurality of antennas are increasing or decreasing.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is a technique for determining whether a mobile communication device exists around a vehicle according to the signal intensity, and does not consider the direction of the signal received by the antenna, so it is difficult to specify the specific position of the mobile terminal. For example, when applying the technique described in Patent Document 1 to a situation where there are a plurality of detection targets, if it is determined that the plurality of detection targets exist at the same distance, it is difficult to determine whether the plurality of detection targets exist at the same location.

[0006] In this way, when multiple wireless transmitting devices are targeted for detection, it is possible that when one of the devices moves outside the vehicle, the other device may be determined to be at the same distance from the antenna even if it is inside the vehicle. For this reason, it is difficult to use the technology described in Patent Document 1 to detect items left behind when a user exits a vehicle.

[0007] In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a technology that calculates the location information of each of multiple wireless transmitting devices based on received signals received from the multiple wireless transmitting devices, and thereby alerts the user when an object equipped with one of the wireless transmitting devices is present inside the vehicle when the user carrying the other wireless transmitting device moves outside the vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, corresponding to each of the vertices of the quadrilateral formed by the side in the traveling direction and the side in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle an information processing device comprising: a first acquisition unit that acquires, from each of three or more wireless receiving devices installed at a location, first signal strength information indicating the strength of a received signal received by the wireless receiving device from a first wireless transmitting device; a second acquisition unit that acquires, from each of the three or more wireless receiving devices, second signal strength information indicating the strength of a received signal received by the wireless receiving device from a second wireless transmitting device; a calculation unit that calculates, based on the first signal strength information, first location information indicating the location of the first wireless transmitting device and second location information indicating the location of the second wireless transmitting device based on the second signal strength information; and an output unit that outputs alarm information to a mobile communication device when the location indicated by the first location information is not included in the interior area of the vehicle and the location indicated by the second location information is included in the interior area of the vehicle. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the above-described embodiment, a technology is provided that prevents a situation in which an object is left behind inside the vehicle by alerting the user if an object is present inside the vehicle when the user moves outside the vehicle. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] [Configuration of the first embodiment] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an object location detection system provided in a vehicle according to the first embodiment. The object location detection system shown in Fig. 1 includes four receiving devices (examples of wireless receiving devices) 20_1 to 20_4 provided in a vehicle 10, an in-vehicle device 30, and a wireless communication device 31.

[0013] 1, a user (e.g., a driver of a vehicle) carries a mobile communication device 100 and a smart key 110 for a vehicle 10. Furthermore, in the example shown in FIG. 1, a wallet 111 is present in the vehicle.

[0014] The mobile communication device 100 is a terminal capable of transmitting and receiving signals via wireless communication, and may be, for example, a general-purpose mobile terminal such as a tablet terminal or a smartphone carried by a user. The mobile communication device 100 may also be a general-purpose stationary terminal such as a laptop computer terminal or a desktop computer.

[0015] The smart key 110 (an example of the first wireless transmission device) is a terminal capable of locking and unlocking the doors of the vehicle 10, and includes a wireless transceiver capable of transmitting and receiving signals by wireless communication with the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 provided in the vehicle 10. The smart key 110 according to the present embodiment transmits and receives signals by wireless communication with the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 at predetermined time intervals.

[0016] The wallet 111 stores a wireless transmission tag 111A. The wireless transmission tag 111A is a wireless transmission device (an example of the second wireless transmission device) capable of transmitting signals by wireless communication. The wireless transmission tag 111A according to the present embodiment transmits and receives signals by wireless communication with the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 at predetermined time intervals.

[0017] The vehicle 10 may be any vehicle that a user can board. In FIG. 1, an automobile having four wheels is described as an example of the vehicle 10. Further, the vehicle 10 is not limited to an automobile equipped with a gasoline engine, and may be a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle. Further, the vehicle 10 is not limited to an automobile, and may be another vehicle (for example, a railway vehicle).

[0018] In the vehicle 10 shown in FIG. 1, doors are provided on both the left and right sides so that the user can get on and off. The user can freely get on and off by opening the door provided in the vehicle 10.

[0019] Each of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 has a receiving antenna and is configured to be able to detect radio waves transmitted by the smart key 110 and the wireless transmission tag 111A. The receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 according to the present embodiment acquire the intensity (RSSI) of the received radio wave when the receiving antenna receives the radio wave.

[0020] The four receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 are configured by a right front receiving device 20_1, a left front receiving device 20_2, a right rear receiving device 20_3, and a left rear receiving device 20_4. Specifically, each of the four receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 is provided in a plane substantially parallel to the plane on which the vehicle 10 travels, near a vertex of a rectangle formed by a side in the traveling direction (X-axis direction) of the vehicle 10 and a side in the vehicle width direction (Y-axis direction) of the vehicle 10.

[0021] Specifically, the receiving antenna of the right front receiving device 20_1 is provided in the vicinity of the right front end of the vehicle 10. The receiving antenna of the left front receiving device 20_2 is provided in the vicinity of the left front end of the vehicle 10. The receiving antenna of the right rear receiving device 20_3 is provided in the vicinity of the right rear end of the vehicle 10. The receiving antenna of the left rear receiving device 20_4 is provided in the vicinity of the left rear end of the vehicle 10. In other words, since the four receiving antennas are provided at different positions in the traveling direction and vehicle width direction of the vehicle 10, the strength of the received signal changes according to changes in the positions of the smart key 110 and the radio transmitting tag 111A in the traveling direction and vehicle width direction.

[0022] In other words, in this embodiment, a change in the location of the smart key 110 and the radio transmitting tag 111A inside or around the vehicle 10 can be detected based on a change in the intensity of the radio waves received by the receiving antennas of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4.

[0023] The positions where the receiving antennas of the four receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 according to this embodiment are provided are shown as examples, and the present invention is not limited to these positions. The receiving antennas of the four receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 may be provided so that their positions can be identified from radio waves transmitted by the smart key 110 and the radio transmitting tag 111A. For example, the receiving antennas of the four receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 may be provided on the front pillars and the rear pillars of the vehicle 10.

[0024] The receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 and the in-vehicle device 30 are connected to each other via an external bus 25. The external bus 25 may be, for example, a CAN (Controller Area Network), or may be connected via another network.

[0025] The wireless communication device 31 performs wireless communication with an external communication device (portable communication device 100). The wireless communication may include, for example, a short-range wireless communication line such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark). Furthermore, the wireless communication device 31 may use a communication standard such as 5G (fifth generation mobile communication system), LTE (Long Term Evolution), or Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

[0026] The in-vehicle device 30 (an example of an information processing device) has a function of acquiring reception information based on signals received by the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 and performing various processes based on the reception information. The in-vehicle device 30 is also connected to a wireless communication device 31, and is capable of outputting information by wireless communication to an external communication device via the wireless communication device 31.

[0027] 1 shows a situation in which a user has left the vehicle 10 while carrying the smart key 110 and the mobile communication device 100. At this time, the user has forgotten to carry the wallet 111.

[0028] That is, when the in-vehicle device 30 detects that the smart key 110 is outside the vehicle 10 and that the wireless transmitting tag 111A of the wallet 111 is inside the vehicle, the in-vehicle device 30 transmits notification information indicating that the item is left behind inside the vehicle 10 to the mobile communication device 100 via the wireless communication device 31. This allows the user to recognize that the item is left behind inside the vehicle 10.

[0029] Note that this embodiment shows an example of lost item notification and is not limited to the situations described above. For example, when the in-vehicle device 30 detects that the wallet 111 is outside the vehicle 10 and the smart key 110 is inside the vehicle, the in-vehicle device 30 may transmit notification information indicating that there is a lost item inside the vehicle 10 to the mobile communication device 100.

[0030] Also, this embodiment does not limit the detection targets by the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 to the wireless transmission tags 111A of the smart key 110 and the wallet 111, and any device capable of transmitting a wireless communication signal may be used.

[0031] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the object position detection system of the vehicle 10 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 10 includes a right front receiving device 20_1, a left front receiving device 20_2, a right rear receiving device 20_3, a left rear receiving device 20_4, a wireless communication device 31, and an in-vehicle device 30.

[0032] The in-vehicle device 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a storage device 302, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 304, an in-vehicle communication I / F (interface) 305, and an input / output I / F 303. The CPU 301, the storage device 302, the RAM 304, the in-vehicle communication I / F 305, and the input / output I / F 303 are communicably connected to each other via an internal bus 306.

[0033] For example, the CPU 301 performs various controls regarding the detection of the position of an object by executing various programs stored in the storage device 302. The CPU 301 may allocate a work area in the RAM 304 to store data used for the execution of various programs.

[0034] Various programs and data such as initial setting values are stored in advance in the storage device 302. The various programs stored in the storage device 302 include a control program for controlling the in-vehicle device 30. The storage device 302 is used as a work area for the CPU 301, and temporarily stores work data, programs, etc.

[0035] The storage device 302 includes an antenna information storage unit 321 and an area information storage unit 322 .

[0036] The antenna information storage unit 321 stores position information of the receiving antennas of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 based on a predetermined position of the vehicle 10. For example, the antenna information storage unit 321 stores information indicating the position coordinates of each of the receiving antennas of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 in a coordinate system including an X-axis direction (traveling direction) and a Y-axis direction (vehicle width direction) with a predetermined position of the vehicle 10 (for example, the center of gravity of the vehicle 10) as the origin. Note that the coordinate system used in this embodiment may be a two-dimensional coordinate system as long as it includes the X-axis direction (traveling direction) and the Y-axis direction (vehicle width direction), and may be a three-dimensional coordinate system further including a Z-axis direction (height direction).

[0037] The area information storage unit 322 stores coordinate information indicating an area inside the vehicle 10 in the coordinate system held by the antenna information storage unit 321. Furthermore, the area information storage unit 322 may store coordinate information corresponding to each area inside the vehicle 10 (for example, the rear left seat, the rear right seat, the front left seat, and the front right seat).

[0038] The in-vehicle communication I / F 305 is connected to the plurality of receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 via the external bus 25. For example, the in-vehicle communication I / F 305 transmits and receives communication frames based on the CAN protocol between the in-vehicle device 30 and each of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4. Note that the in-vehicle communication I / F 305 may perform communication using Ethernet (registered trademark).

[0039] The input / output I / F 303 is connected to the wireless communication device 31 mounted on the vehicle 10 and transmits and receives various information. Note that the input / output I / F 303 according to this embodiment is not limited to connecting to the wireless communication device 31, and may be connected to, for example, a speaker, a monitor, etc.

[0040] The CPU 301 calculates the location information of the smart key 110 and the wireless transmitting tag 111A of the wallet 111 based on the strength of the radio waves (RSSI) received from each of the plurality of receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 via the in-vehicle communication I / F 305.

[0041] The CPU 301 of this embodiment includes, for example, a key information acquisition unit 311, a tag information acquisition unit 312, a position calculation unit 313, a judgment unit 314, and an output unit 315 as functional units realized by executing one or more programs installed in the storage device 302.

[0042] The key information acquiring unit 311 (an example of a first acquiring unit) acquires information related to the smart key 110 from radio waves received by each of the plurality of receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4. The acquired information includes first signal strength information (RSSI) indicating the strength of a received signal from the smart key 110 (an example of a first wireless transmitting device) received by each of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4.

[0043] Any method may be used to identify the signal transmitted by the smart key 110 from among the signals acquired by the plurality of receiving devices 20_1-20_4 (an example of a wireless receiving device), regardless of whether it is a well-known method. For example, the source of the radio waves received by each of the receiving devices 20_1-20_4 may be identified based on a signal contained in the radio waves. For this reason, the smart key 110 may include information (e.g., an ID) for identifying the smart key 110 in the radio waves it transmits.

[0044] The tag information acquisition unit 312 (an example of the second acquisition unit) acquires information regarding the wireless transmission tag 111A from the radio waves received by each of the plurality of receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4. The acquired information includes second signal strength information (RSSI) indicating the strength of the received signal of the wireless transmission tag 111A (an example of the second wireless transmission device) received by each of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4. Note that, among the signals acquired by the plurality of receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4, the method for specifying the signal transmitted by the smart key 110 is the same as the method for specifying the signal transmitted by the wireless transmission tag 111A.

[0045] The position calculation unit 313 calculates position coordinates (an example of the first position information) indicating the position where the smart key 110 (an example of the first wireless transmission device) exists based on the first signal strength information, and position coordinates (an example of the second position information) indicating the position where the wireless transmission tag 111A (an example of the second wireless transmission device) exists based on the second signal strength information.

[0046] For example, the position calculation unit 313 calculates the position coordinates of the wireless transmission tag 111A based on the second signal strength information (RSSI) acquired by the tag information acquisition unit 312 and the position coordinates of each of the receiving antennas of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 stored in the antenna information storage unit 321.

[0047] Incidentally, there is a correspondence relationship between the strength of the radio wave received by the receiving antenna and the distance to the receiving antenna. For example, in free space, RSSI tends to decay in inverse proportion to the square of the distance. Therefore, the position calculation unit 313 calculates the distance from the wireless transmission tag 111A to each of the four receiving antennas based on the first signal strength information (RSSI). Then, the position calculation unit 313 calculates the position coordinates of the wireless transmission tag 111A based on the distance to each of the four receiving antennas and the position coordinates of the receiving antenna.

[0048] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method for calculating a position based on the intensity of radio waves in the position calculation unit 313 according to the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the receiving antennas of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 are arranged at the four corners of the vehicle 10. Thereby, if it is within the range of the area 250 inside the receiving antennas of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4, it can be recognized that it exists inside the vehicle 10.

[0049] In the example shown in FIG. 3, the distance 200_1 (from the receiving antenna) calculated from the intensity (RSSI) of the received signal received by the right front receiving device 20_1 is shown. Also, the distance 200_2 (from the receiving antenna) calculated from the intensity (RSSI) of the received signal received by the left front receiving device 20_2 is shown. The distance 200_3 (from the receiving antenna) calculated from the intensity (RSSI) of the received signal received by the right rear receiving device 20_3 is shown. The distance 200_4 (from the receiving antenna) calculated from the intensity (RSSI) of the received signal received by the left rear receiving device 20_4 is shown.

[0050] Then, the position calculation unit 313 calculates the intersection point of the calculated distances 200_1 to 200_4 as the position coordinates of the detection target (for example, the wireless transmission tag 111A).

[0051] Similarly, the position calculation unit 313 calculates the position coordinates of the smart key 110 based on the first signal intensity information (RSSI) acquired by the key information acquisition unit 311 and the position coordinates of each of the receiving antennas of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 stored in the antenna information storage unit 321.

[0052] In the present embodiment, the receiving antennas of the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 are arranged at the four corners of the vehicle 10. Thereby, it is possible to determine whether the detection target exists inside the vehicle 10 depending on whether it exists within the range of the area 250. Note that the method for determining whether it is inside the vehicle 10 is not limited to this method, and it can be determined if the coordinate information of the area corresponding to the inside of the vehicle 10 is held.

[0053] In this embodiment, the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 are arranged as described above so that the distance between the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 provided in the vehicle 10 is as large as possible. That is, since the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 are spaced apart, the difference in the strength of the received signals between the receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 according to the position of the detection target can be made even greater. Therefore, the accuracy of calculation of the position coordinates of the detection target by the position calculation unit 313 can be improved.

[0054] Returning to FIG. 2, the determination unit 314 determines whether the smart key 110 and the wireless transmitting tag 111A are present in an area (e.g., area 250) that indicates the space inside the vehicle 10 and is stored in the area information storage unit 322.

[0055] For example, the determination unit 314 determines whether the position coordinates of the smart key 110 calculated by the position calculation unit 313 are included in an area representing the inside of the vehicle 10 (e.g., area 250) stored in the area information storage unit 322. Furthermore, when the determination unit 314 determines that the smart key 110 is present in an area representing the inside of the vehicle 10, it may specify whether the smart key 110 is present in an area offset from the inside of the vehicle 10 (e.g., rear left seat, rear right seat, front left seat, front right seat).

[0056] Furthermore, the determination unit 314 determines whether the position coordinates of the wireless transmitting tag 111A calculated by the position calculation unit 313 are included in an area (e.g., area 250) representing the inside of the vehicle 10, which is stored in the area information storage unit 322. Furthermore, when the determination unit 314 determines that the wireless transmitting tag 111A is present in an area representing the inside of the vehicle 10, the determination unit 314 may specify in which area inside the vehicle 10 (e.g., rear left seat, rear right seat, front left seat, front right seat) the wireless transmitting tag 111A is present.

[0057] The output unit 315 performs processing for outputting (transmitting) information to an external device via the wireless communication device 31. When the determination unit 314 determines that there is an item left inside the vehicle 10, the output unit 315 transmits notification information to the mobile communication device 100 via the wireless communication device 31.

[0058] For example, when the determination unit 314 determines that the position indicated by the position coordinates of the smart key 110 is not included in the inner area of the vehicle 10 (for example, area 250) and the position indicated by the wireless transmission tag 111A is included in the inner area of the vehicle 10 (for example, area 250), the output unit 315 outputs notification information to the mobile communication device 100.

[0059] The notification information according to the present embodiment may be screen information that can be displayed on the mobile communication device 100, an SNS message, an e-mail, or the like.

[0060] Further, information for identifying the detection target (for example, an ID included in the radio wave) and the name of the detection target may be stored in the storage device 302 of the in-vehicle device 30 in association with each other. For example, the storage device 302 may store the ID for identifying the wireless transmission tag 111A and "wallet" in association with each other. Thereby, even if the position coordinates of the smart key 110 exist in the outer area of the vehicle 10, when the determination unit 314 determines that the position coordinates of the wireless transmission tag 111A are included in the inner area of the vehicle 10, the output unit 315 can transmit a message indicating "There is a wallet inside the vehicle, but it is away from the vehicle. Please check if you have forgotten it." as the notification information to the mobile communication device 100.

[0061] Furthermore, the output unit 315 may include information regarding the position where the wireless transmission tag 111A exists in the notification information. For example, when the determination unit 314 refers to the area information storage unit 322 and determines that the position coordinates of the wireless transmission tag 111A are included in the area indicated by "rear left seat" (an example of information regarding the position inside the vehicle 10), the output unit 315 may transmit a message indicating "Your wallet is in the left seat at the rear, but it has left the vehicle. Please check if you have forgotten it." as the notification information to the mobile communication device 100.

[0062] Note that in this embodiment, an example has been described in which when it is determined that there is an item left behind, the output unit 315 transmits the notification information to the mobile communication device 100 via the wireless communication device 31. However, this embodiment is not limited to the example of transmitting the notification information to the mobile communication device 100. For example, the notification information may be output using a speaker or the like provided in the vehicle 10.

[0063] Next, the control flow regarding notification when an item left behind is detected in the in-vehicle device 30 according to this embodiment will be described.

[0064] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control regarding notification when an item left behind is detected by the in-vehicle device 30 according to this embodiment.

[0065] The key information acquisition unit 311 acquires information regarding the smart key 110 (including the first signal strength information) from the radio waves received by each of the plurality of receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 (S3001).

[0066] The position calculation unit 313 calculates the position coordinates of the smart key 110 based on the first signal strength information (RSSI) acquired by the key information acquisition unit 311 and the antenna information storage unit 321 (S3002).

[0067] Next, the tag information acquisition unit 312 acquires information regarding the wireless transmission tag 111A from the radio waves received by each of the plurality of receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4 (S3003).

[0068] The position calculation unit 313 calculates the position coordinates of the wireless transmitting tag 111A based on the second signal strength information (RSSI) acquired by the tag information acquisition unit 312 and the antenna information storage unit 321 (S3004).

[0069] The determination unit 314 determines whether the smart key 110 is present in the area representing the inside of the vehicle 10 stored in the area information storage unit 322 (the area 250 includes the position coordinates of the smart key 110) (S3005).

[0070] If the judgment unit 314 determines that the smart key 110 is not present in the area representing the inside of the vehicle 10 (S3005: NO), it determines whether the wireless transmitting tag 111A is present in the area representing the inside of the vehicle 10 stored in the area information storage unit 322 (whether the area 250 includes the position coordinates of the wireless transmitting tag 111A) (S3006).

[0071] If the determination unit 314 determines that the wireless transmitting tag 111A is present in the area representing the inside of the vehicle 10 (S3006: YES), the output unit 315 outputs notification information to the mobile communication device 100 that an object (e.g., a wallet) to which the wireless transmitting tag 111A is attached is present in the vehicle 10 (S3007).

[0072] On the other hand, if the judgment unit 314 determines that the wireless transmitting tag 111A is not present in the area representing the inside of the vehicle 10 (S3006: NO), it recognizes that the user has moved from the vehicle 10 while carrying the smart key 110 and an object to which the wireless transmitting tag 111A is attached, and terminates the processing.

[0073] In S3005, if the judgment unit 314 determines that the smart key 110 is present in the area representing the inside of the vehicle 10 (S3005: YES), it determines whether the wireless transmitting tag 111A is present in the area representing the inside of the vehicle 10 stored in the area information storage unit 322 (whether the area 250 includes the position coordinates of the wireless transmitting tag 111A) (S3008).

[0074] If the determination unit 314 determines that the wireless transmitting tag 111A is not present in the area representing the inside of the vehicle 10 (S3008: NO), the output unit 315 outputs notification information to the mobile communication device 100 that the smart key 110 is present in the vehicle 10 (S3009).

[0075] On the other hand, if the determination unit 314 determines that the wireless transmitting tag 111A is present in the area indicating the space inside the vehicle 10 (S3008: YES), it determines that the user is present in the vehicle 10 and ends the process.

[0076] In this embodiment, by performing the above-described processing, if the user leaves something behind in the vehicle 10, the mobile communication device 100 is notified, so that the user can be made aware of the presence of the item left behind.

[0077] (Variation) In the above-described embodiment, the detection target is the smart key 110 and the wireless transmitting tag 111A. However, the above-described embodiment does not limit the detection target to the smart key 110 and the wireless transmitting tag 111A, but may include any wireless transmitting device capable of transmitting a signal. Therefore, as a modified example, the detection target may include the mobile communication device 100.

[0078] In other words, in this modified example, for example, when the in-vehicle device 30 detects that the mobile communication device 100 is outside the vehicle 10 and detects that one or more of the smart key 110 and the wireless transmitting tag 111A of the wallet 111 are inside the vehicle, the in-vehicle device 30 transmits to the mobile communication device 100 alarm information indicating that there is an item left behind inside the vehicle 10.

[0079] Specifically, the in-vehicle device 30 acquires information about the mobile communication device 100 from radio waves received by each of the plurality of receiving devices 20_1 to 20_4. Then, the position calculation unit 313 calculates the position coordinates of the mobile communication device 100 from the strength of the received signal of the mobile communication device 100.

[0080] If the determination unit 314 determines that the mobile communication device 100 is not present in the area representing the space within the vehicle 10, and that one or more of the smart key 110 and the radio transmitting tag 111A are present in the area representing the space within the vehicle 10, the output unit 315 transmits alarm information to the mobile communication device 100.

[0081] In this modification, the user can recognize whether or not he or she has left something behind in the vehicle 10 as long as he or she has at least the mobile communication device 100 with him or her.

[0082] In the above-described embodiment and modified examples, an example in which four receiving devices (including receiving antennas) are provided has been described. However, the above-described embodiment and modified examples are not limited to an example in which four receiving devices (including receiving antennas) are provided. In other words, as long as it is possible to identify the position coordinates of the detection target on at least a two-dimensional coordinate system, for example, three receiving devices may be provided. Furthermore, five or more receiving devices may be provided.

[0083] In the above-described embodiment and modified example, when the in-vehicle device 30 determines that one detection target is present outside the vehicle 10 and the other detection target is present in an area inside the vehicle 10, it transmits notification information to the mobile communication device 100. This allows the user to recognize that there is an item left behind in the vehicle 10. In other words, the user can retrieve the item from the vehicle 10. This prevents a third party from retrieving the item, thereby improving safety.

[0084] In the above-described embodiment and modifications, the radio waves transmitted by each detection target include information identifying the detection target, which allows the in-vehicle device 30 to calculate the position coordinates of the multiple detection targets.

[0085] The in-vehicle device 30 may have another processor, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) instead of the CPU 301. That is, the functions of the in-vehicle device 30 may be realized by hardware. The FPGA or ASIC may also include a communication interface function or an input / output interface function.

[0086] In the above-described embodiment, the program executed by the CPU 301 may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium. In this case, the program is downloaded from the recording medium to a memory such as the storage device 302. Examples of the recording medium include a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc Read Only Memory), and a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. The program may also be downloaded to at least one of the in-vehicle devices 30 via a network.

[0087] Although the embodiments for carrying out the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications and improvements are possible within the scope that does not depart from the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0088] 10 vehicles 20_1 Right front receiving device 20_2 Front left receiver 20_3 Right rear receiver 20_4 Left rear receiver 25 External Bus 30 Onboard equipment 31 Wireless communication equipment 301 CPU 302 Storage device 303 Input / Output Interface 304 RAM 305 In-vehicle communication I / F 306 Internal bus 311 Key information acquisition unit 312 Tag information acquisition unit 313 Position calculation unit 314 Judgment unit 315 Output unit 321 Antenna information storage unit 322 Area information storage unit

Claims

[Claim 1] a first acquisition unit that acquires, from each of three or more wireless receiving devices provided at positions corresponding to vertices of a rectangle formed by sides in the vehicle's traveling direction and sides in the vehicle's width direction, first signal strength information indicating the strength of a received signal received by the wireless receiving device from a first wireless transmitting device; a second acquisition unit that acquires, from each of the three or more wireless receiving devices, second signal strength information indicating the strength of a received signal received by the wireless receiving device from a second wireless transmitting device; a calculation unit that calculates first location information indicating a location where the first wireless transmission device is located based on the first signal strength information, and second location information indicating a location where the second wireless transmission device is located based on the second signal strength information; An information processing device comprising: an output unit that outputs notification information to a mobile communication device when the position indicated by the first position information is not included in the inner area of the vehicle and the position indicated by the second position information is included in the inner area of the vehicle.

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