Wireless communication device, wireless communication method, and computer program

Abstract

To avoid losing a connection opportunity with a connection partner who is originally expected to be connected.SOLUTION: A wireless communication device includes a communication unit that performs wireless communication with another wireless communication device, and a control unit that controls the communication unit. The control unit sets a different advertisement identifier for each application in the communication unit. The communication unit repeatedly transmits an advertisement packet that corresponds to the set advertisement identifier and does not include the advertisement identifier, receives a wireless communication connection request transmitted from a first wireless communication device that is one of other wireless communication devices that have received the advertisement packet, stops transmitting the advertisement packet transmitted immediately before receiving the connection request, and wirelessly connects to the first wireless communication device that is the transmission source of the connection request. The control unit determines whether the wirelessly connected first wireless communication device is a connection destination expected by a first advertisement identifier that is the advertisement identifier corresponding to the advertisement packet whose transmission has been stopped.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication device, a wireless communication method, and a computer program. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a technology based on the Bluetooth Low Energy (registered trademark) standard that broadcasts information to the surrounding area and establishes a BLE connection. Hereinafter, Bluetooth (registered trademark) will be referred to as "BT" and Bluetooth Low Energy will be referred to as "BLE."

[0003] Patent document 1 discloses a wireless communication device that, when it receives a signal corresponding to at least one of multiple advertising packets with different advertising identifiers from another wireless communication device, stops transmitting advertising packets with the advertising identifier corresponding to the signal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-83485 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, if the wireless communication device disclosed in Patent Document 1 mistakenly connects to another wireless communication device that is not expected by the advertising identifier, the transmission of the advertising packet corresponding to the advertising identifier stops, and the device is unable to properly connect to the other wireless communication device that is expected by the advertising identifier.

[0006] The present disclosure has been devised in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a wireless communication device, a wireless communication method, and a computer program that can properly connect to other wireless communication devices expected by an advertising identifier. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present disclosure provides a wireless communication device comprising a communication unit that performs wireless communication with other wireless communication devices and a control unit that controls the communication unit, wherein the control unit sets a different advertising identifier for each application in the communication unit, the communication unit repeatedly transmits advertising packets that correspond to the set advertising identifier and do not include the advertising identifier, receives a wireless communication connection request transmitted from a first wireless communication device that is one of the other wireless communication devices that has received the advertising packet, stops transmitting the advertising packet that was transmitted immediately before receiving the connection request, and wirelessly connects to the first wireless communication device that is the sender of the connection request, and the control unit determines whether the first wireless communication device that has wirelessly connected is the connection destination expected by the first advertising identifier that is the advertising identifier corresponding to the advertising packet whose transmission has stopped.

[0008] The present disclosure also provides a wireless communication method by a wireless communication device, which sets a different advertising identifier for each application, repeatedly transmits advertising packets that correspond to the set advertising identifier and do not include the advertising identifier, receives a wireless communication connection request transmitted from a first wireless communication device that is one of the other wireless communication devices that received the advertising packet, stops transmitting the advertising packet that was transmitted immediately before receiving the connection request, wirelessly connects to the first wireless communication device that is the sender of the connection request, and determines whether the first advertising identifier, which is the advertising identifier corresponding to the advertising packet whose transmission has been stopped, is the expected connection destination by the wirelessly connected first wireless communication device.

[0009] These comprehensive or specific aspects may be realized as a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recording medium, or may be realized as any combination of a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent a loss of an opportunity to connect with a desired connection partner. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a wireless communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hierarchical structure of a software program of an in-vehicle device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] 1 is a flowchart of an advertisement transmission process of an on-vehicle device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 5] A sequence diagram showing the mechanism of an erroneous connection occurring between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] A diagram showing the structure of the HCI command that sets the advertisement data to be sent from the host stack of the in-vehicle device to the Bluetooth controller. [Figure 7] A diagram showing an example of the structure of an advertisement packet sent wirelessly by the Bluetooth controller of the in-vehicle device. [Figure 8] Flowchart showing how an application program in an in-vehicle device controls advertising restart processing when a misconnection occurs in the first embodiment of the present invention [Figure 9] Flowchart of processing relating to a first erroneous connection detection method for an in-vehicle device [Figure 10] Sequence diagram for when BLE connection between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone does not cause a misconnection [Figure 11] Sequence diagram for when a misconnection occurs when connecting BLE between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone [Figure 12] Flowchart of processing relating to a second erroneous connection detection method for an in-vehicle device [Figure 13] Sequence diagram for when a misconnection occurs when connecting BLE between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone [Figure 14] Flowchart of advertisement transmission process of the vehicle-mounted device in the third misconnection detection method [Figure 15] Flowchart of processing relating to a third method for detecting incorrect connection of an in-vehicle device [Figure 16] Sequence diagram for when a misconnection occurs when connecting BLE between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone [Figure 17] Flowchart of processing relating to a fourth misconnection detection method for an in-vehicle device [Figure 18] Sequence diagram for when a misconnection occurs when connecting BLE between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone [Figure 19] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a hierarchical structure of a software program of an in-vehicle device in Modification 1. [Figure 20] Flowchart showing how an application program in an in-vehicle device controls advertising restart processing when a misconnection occurs in Modification 1. [Figure 21] 10 is a flowchart showing how an advertisement mediation service program in an in-vehicle device performs mediation control on an application program in Modification 1. [Figure 22] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a management table in which the advertisement mediation service program of the in-vehicle device manages the number of misconnections and the frequency of misconnections for each application in the first modification example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings as appropriate, detailed descriptions will be given of embodiments specifically disclosing a wireless communication device, a wireless communication method, and a program according to the present disclosure. However, unnecessary detailed descriptions may be omitted. For example, detailed descriptions of well-known matters and redundant descriptions of substantially identical configurations may be omitted. This is to avoid unnecessary redundancy in the following description and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. Note that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter of the claims.

[0013] <First Embodiment> A wireless communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a wireless communication system 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] In FIG. 1, the wireless communication system 1 is configured with an in-vehicle device 100, a smartphone 101, and a smartphone 102. The in-vehicle device 100 is an example of a wireless communication device. The smartphones 101 and 102 are examples of other wireless communication devices. The in-vehicle device 100 performs wireless communication with the smartphone 101 or the smartphone 102 based on BLE. BLE is a short-range wireless communication standard known as Bluetooth that was established with the aim of reducing power consumption.

[0016] In this embodiment, the in-vehicle device 100 operates as a peripheral that transmits an advertising packet, which will be described later. The smartphones 101 and 102 operate as centrals that receive the advertising packets. At least one of the smartphones 101 and 102 receives the advertising packet transmitted by the in-vehicle device 100. If an application identifier included in the received advertising packet matches an application owned by the smartphone, at least one of the smartphones 101 and 102 transmits a connection request to the in-vehicle device. As a result, at least one of the smartphones 101 and 102 connects to the in-vehicle device 100 via BLE. The BLE connection is a wireless communication connection using BLE. In the wireless communication system 1, after the BLE connection is established, unique information is exchanged between the application owned by the in-vehicle device 100 and the application owned by the smartphone.

[0017] The smartphone 101 and the smartphone 102 are portable terminals carried by the driver or passengers, and are brought into or near the vehicle in which the in-vehicle device 100 is installed. Other examples of portable terminals include tablet terminals, mobile phones, audio players, and smartwatches. The portable terminal is not limited to these, and may also be a device such as a remote control installed in the vehicle.

[0018] Next, the hardware configuration of the on-board device 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the on-board device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The on-board device 100 includes a control unit 201, a BLE communication unit 202, a display unit 203, an input unit 204, a storage unit 205, and a timing unit 206.

[0019] The control unit 201 controls the overall operation of the in-vehicle device 100. The control unit 201 includes one or more processors, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a micro processing unit (MPU), and a read-only memory (ROM) or a random access memory (RAM). The control unit 201 executes a program stored in the ROM to realize the processing according to this embodiment. The control unit 201 uses the RAM as a working area while executing the program. The ROM and RAM may be provided outside the control unit 201. The outside of the control unit 201 may be, for example, a storage unit 205. The control unit 201 may be configured with an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like, in addition to or instead of the above-described hardware.

[0020] The BLE communication unit 202 includes, for example, a radio frequency (RF) circuit, a baseband (BB) circuit, a link layer (LL) circuit, a memory circuit, an antenna, and the like.

[0021] The BLE communication unit 202 demodulates and decodes a wireless signal received via an antenna and sends the result to the control unit 201. The BLE communication unit 202 also encodes and modulates a signal sent from the control unit 201 and transmits the result as a wireless signal via the antenna. The BLE communication unit 202 performs wireless communication with another wireless communication device. In this embodiment, the other wireless communication device is, for example, at least one of the smartphone 101 and the smartphone 102.

[0022] In this embodiment, the BLE communication unit 202 is realized by a Bluetooth controller that transmits and receives wireless signals based on BLE. The Bluetooth controller may be a combo module including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (registered trademark). Alternatively, the Bluetooth controller may be a module that includes only Bluetooth.

[0023] The display unit 203 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescent) display, and includes a circuit for drawing, etc. The display unit 203 displays, for example, information related to applications and information received from the smartphones 101 and 102.

[0024] The input unit 204 is a device for inputting instructions from a user. The input unit 204 may be configured with a predetermined number of press-type switches arranged in a row, a touch panel device, or the like. An instruction from a user may be, for example, an instruction to connect to or disconnect from a smartphone. The input unit 204 transmits an electric signal corresponding to the input operation to the control unit 201. For example, a touch sensor serving as the input unit 204 may be provided on top of the display panel of the display unit 203, and may form a touch panel together with the display panel. In this case, the touch sensor serving as the input unit 204 detects the contact position and contact manner related to the user's contact action on the touch sensor, and transmits a signal corresponding to the detected contact position and contact manner to the control unit 201.

[0025] The storage unit 205 stores the control program main body, initial setting data, and various variable data during execution of the control program for the on-board device 100 to perform control according to this embodiment. The storage unit 205 is, for example, a ROM or a RAM.

[0026] The timer unit 206 is composed of an oscillator circuit, a frequency divider circuit, a timer circuit, etc., and measures the current time and the expiration time from the start of a timer in the control program.

[0027] Although the hardware configuration of the smartphone is not shown in the drawings, the smartphone may include a BLE communication unit, a control unit, and a storage unit, similar to the in-vehicle device 100.

[0028] Next, the software configuration of the vehicle-mounted device and the smartphone will be described. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the hierarchical structure of the software programs of the vehicle-mounted device and the smartphone in the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] 3, the in-vehicle device 100 has software including application A, application B, GATT (Generic Attribute Profile), ATT (Attribute Protocol), L2CAP (Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol), and HCI (Host Controller Interface). GATT, ATT, and L2CAP are also collectively referred to as a host stack. These pieces of software are executed by the control unit 201.

[0030] The link layer and physical layer are hardware, and are a BT controller equivalent to the BLE communication unit 202.

[0031] The smartphone 101 has software including application A, GATT, ATT, L2CAP, and HCI, and is connected to the in-vehicle device 100 via BLE to implement the functions of application A. The link layer and physical layer are hardware, and are the BT controller of the smartphone 101.

[0032] The smartphone 102 has software including application B, GATT, ATT, L2CAP, and HCI, and connects to the in-vehicle device 100 via BLE to implement the functions of application B. The link layer and physical layer are hardware, and are the BT controller of the smartphone 102.

[0033] The HCI provides a command and event interface for the host stack to access the BT controller. The HCI controls BLE communication using HCI commands, HCI events, and their configuration parameters.

[0034] L2CAP is a protocol that provides functions such as fragmenting and reassembling communication packets of higher layer protocols (ATT layer in Figure 3).

[0035] ATT is a protocol that uses a client-server model and enables a server-side device to publish a set of attributes and their associated values ​​to a client-side device. These attributes published by the server can be detected, read, or written by the client, and a series of interactions instructed or notified by the server are defined. ATT may use the Enhanced Attribute Protocol (EATT), which is an extension of BT5.2.

[0036] GATT, like ATT, adopts a client-server model, and profiles define how data is structured using ATT and how information is exchanged between applications. The data structure in GATT is hierarchical, with components such as profiles, services, and characteristics.

[0037] In GATT communication, two roles are defined: GATT client and GATT server, based on the source and destination of the data.

[0038] A GATT client sends requests to a GATT server and receives responses from the GATT server. A GATT client can perform at least one of reading and writing information from the GATT server.

[0039] When the GATT server receives a request from a GATT client, it returns a response to the GATT client.

[0040] In this embodiment, the in-vehicle device 100 serves as a GATT server, and the smartphones 101 and 102 serve as GATT clients. The functions possessed by application A are different from the functions possessed by application B. Therefore, the services and characteristics possessed by application A are different from the services and characteristics possessed by application B.

[0041] In Figure 3, dotted lines illustrate an example of a misconnection. A misconnection refers to a phenomenon in which a smartphone erroneously connects to an unintended advertising communication when the in-vehicle device 100 simultaneously transmits multiple advertisements. Figure 3 shows an example in which a smartphone 102 having application B erroneously connects to an advertising communication of application A on the in-vehicle device 100. When a misconnection occurs, a connection notification with the smartphone 102 having application B is sent to application A on the in-vehicle device 100. As a result, an application mismatch occurs for application A on the in-vehicle device 100, and the expected communication cannot be performed. For the in-vehicle device 100, this means that it has been connected to a device that it did not intend to connect to.

[0042] The processing operation of the vehicle-mounted device 100 configured as above will be described below. First, the processing operation for starting advertising according to each application of the vehicle-mounted device 100, and the mechanism for the occurrence of a misconnection between the vehicle-mounted device 100 and a smartphone will be described with reference to Figures 4 to 7.

[0043] 4 is a flowchart showing advertisement transmission processing performed by an application of the vehicle-mounted device in the first embodiment of the present invention. When a user gets into a vehicle (not shown) equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 100 and turns on an accessory (ACC) power supply (not shown), the vehicle-mounted device 100 starts up, and at the same time, the control unit 201 starts transmitting advertisement packets. Alternatively, the vehicle may detect that a door of the vehicle has been opened and transmit a detection signal to the vehicle-mounted device 100 via an in-vehicle network, and the vehicle-mounted device 100 may start transmitting advertisement packets upon receiving the detection signal. Note that the application may start the processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 4 at any timing when the user issues an instruction to connect to a smartphone via the input unit 204.

[0044] The application is executed by the control unit 201. Therefore, the application may be read as the control unit 201. Furthermore, each process in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is executed by the application A of the vehicle-mounted device 100. Note that each process in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is also executed by the application B in the same way.

[0045] First, application A generates advertisement information including a UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) ​​corresponding to application A (S40). Here, the UUID is a 128-bit identifier, and in this embodiment, is an ID used as an application identifier for identifying each application.

[0046] After the process of S40, application A refers to the advertisement identifier previously assigned to application A from storage unit 205 (S41). In this embodiment, a different advertisement identifier is assigned to each application. For example, application A is assigned an advertisement identifier value of "1", and application B is assigned an advertisement identifier value of "2". Note that the advertisement identifier values ​​are merely examples and are not limiting.

[0047] The control unit 201 sets the advertisement information and the advertisement identifier in the BLE communication unit 202 (S42). The application A instructs the BLE communication unit 202 to start transmitting advertisement packets (S43).

[0048] Figure 5 shows a sequence diagram illustrating the mechanism by which a misconnection occurs between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone.

[0049] In FIG. 5, some applications A and B are represented as application A and application B, respectively.

[0050] First, the application A executed by the control unit 201 sets advertising data in the BLE communication unit 202 (S51). The advertising data is set using, for example, the "LE Set Extended Advertising Data" command.

[0051] Here, the configuration of the HCI command ("LE Set Extended Advertising Data" command) will be described with reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the HCI command for setting advertising data to be transmitted from the host stack of the vehicle-mounted device 100 to the BT controller. As shown in FIG. 6, the HCI command defines a parameter "Advertising_Handle" that represents an advertising identifier. In this embodiment, the HCI command includes Ad Data whose AD Type is 0xFF ("Manufacture Specific Data"). The AD Type represents the type of AD Data. "Manufacture Specific Data" represents that the AD Data is data that can be arbitrarily determined by a company. In this embodiment, the AD Data includes a UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) ​​that can identify each application in the vehicle-mounted device 100.

[0052] 5, application A sets the value of "Advertising_Handle" to "1" and sets the UUID to a value corresponding to application A. In FIG. 5, this is expressed as "Advertising_Handle=1, UUID=application A."

[0053] Application B included in the control unit 201 sets advertising data in the BLE communication unit 202 (S52). In the process of S52, application B sets the value of "Advertising_Handle" to "2" and sets the UUID to a value corresponding to application B. In FIG. 5, this is expressed as "Advertising_Handle=2, UUID=application B."

[0054] Application A included in the control unit 201 instructs the BLE communication unit 202 to start advertising (S53). The start of advertising is set using the "LE Set Extended Advertising Enable" command. In detail, the control unit 201 sets the parameter "Enable" to "Enable" as a value indicating the start of transmission, and sets the value of the parameter "Advertising_Handle" indicating the advertising identifier to "1". In FIG. 5, this is expressed as "Enable, Advertising_Handle=1".

[0055] The BLE communication unit 202 receives the advertising start instruction of S53 and transmits an advertising packet including the UUID of application A as a wireless signal (S54). The BLE communication unit 202 repeatedly broadcasts the advertising packet at a predetermined interval. This allows other wireless communication devices in the vicinity to detect the in-vehicle device 100. In FIG. 5, the other wireless communication devices are the smartphones 101 and 102.

[0056] Here, referring to FIG. 7, an example of the configuration of an advertising packet transmitted by the BLE communication unit 202 as wireless communication will be described. Here, "ADV_IND" is specified as the type of advertising packet. "ADV_IND" is a type of advertising packet that notifies an unspecified number of devices of the presence of the in-vehicle unit 100 and accepts a connection request when it is received. The AD Type and AD Data in FIG. 7 are set to the same values ​​as those set by the host stack in FIG. 6. Here, the "Advertising_Handle" parameter that represents the advertising identifier is not included in the example packet configuration in FIG. 7. Therefore, even if the smartphone receives the advertising packet, it cannot identify the advertising identifier.

[0057] Although "ADV_IND" has been exemplified as the type of advertisement packet, the type is not limited to this, and advertisements involving other types of connections (such as AUX_ADV_IND) may be selected.

[0058] Returning to the explanation of the process of S55 in Fig. 5, application B included in the control unit 201 instructs the BLE communication unit 202 to start advertising (S55). The start of transmission of advertising packets is set using the "LE Set Extended Advertising Enable" command. In detail, the control unit 201 sets the parameter "Enable" to "Enable" as a value indicating the start of transmission, and sets the value of the parameter "Advertising_Handle" indicating the advertising identifier to "2". In Fig. 5, this is expressed as "Enable, Advertising_Handle=2".

[0059] The BLE communication unit 202 receives the instruction to start advertising in S55 and transmits an advertising packet including the UUID of application B as a wireless signal (S56).

[0060] Next, the smartphone 102 detects the advertisement packet transmitted in the process of S56 (S57). When the smartphone 102 detects the advertisement packet in the process of S57, it determines whether the UUID included in the advertisement packet is the UUID of the application, i.e., the UUID corresponding to application B. If the smartphone 102 determines that the UUID included in the advertisement packet matches the UUID of the application of the smartphone 102, it transmits a connection request to the in-vehicle device 100. Because the UUID included in the advertisement packet detected in the process of S57 matches the UUID of the smartphone 102, the smartphone 102 transmits a connection request to the in-vehicle device 100 (S59). The connection request is transmitted from the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 to the BLE communication unit 202 as a communication packet called, for example, "CONNECT_IND" (S60).

[0061] Here, the communication packet of the connection request "CONNECT_IND" is composed of parameters InitA, AdvA, and LLData. InitA is an address section indicating the source of the connection request. AdvA is an address section indicating the destination of the connection request. LLData is a connection communication parameter to be established. In FIG. 5, the address of the source of the connection request is expressed as From smartphone 102, and the address of the destination of the connection request is expressed as To vehicle-mounted device 100. Note that an example of a connection request is not limited to "CONNECT_IND" including InitA, AdvA, and LLData, and may be a communication packet (such as AUX_CONNECT_REQ) that makes another type of connection request.

[0062] Here, assume that the smartphone 102 receives an advertising packet including the UUID of application A shown in S58 immediately before performing the process related to the connection request in S59 and the process of transmitting the connection request in S60. In this case, the BLE communication unit 202 mistakenly recognizes the received connection request of S60 as the advertisement of application A transmitted immediately before in S58, i.e., as a connection request for "Advertising_Handle=1."

[0063] Therefore, the BLE communication unit 202 notifies application A of the control unit 201 that it has been connected to the smartphone 102 (S61). Almost simultaneously with the processing of S61, the BLE communication unit 202 stops transmitting advertising packets with "Advertising_Handle=1" and notifies application A of the control unit 201 of this fact (S62). The BLE communication unit 202 sets the stop of transmission of advertising packets using an "LE Set Advertising Set Terminated" event. Event parameters of the "LE Set Advertising Set Terminated" event include "Advertising_Handle", which is an advertising identifier, and "Connection_Handle", which is a parameter for identifying the connection.

[0064] In this way, the side executing the connection, i.e., the smartphone 102 side, can specify the address of the vehicle-mounted device 100 when sending a connection request to the vehicle-mounted device 100, but if the vehicle-mounted device 100 is executing multiple advertisements, it cannot specify which advertisement identifier to connect to. As a result, an erroneous connection occurs.

[0065] The processes of S51 and S52 in Fig. 5 correspond to the process of S42 in Fig. 4. The processes of S53 and S55 in Fig. 5 correspond to the process of S43 in Fig. 4.

[0066] In the example of Figure 6, it has been described that the "Manufacture Specific Data" contains UUIDs that can identify each application in the vehicle-mounted device 100, but this is not limited to this. The AD Type may be set to 0x07 ("Complete List of 128-bit Service Class UUIDs") and the UUIDs may be included in the Ad Data.

[0067] If a misconnection such as that described above occurs, the advertisement having the advertising identifier "Advertising_Handle=1" assigned to application A will stop, and the opportunity to connect between the vehicle-mounted device 100 and the intended connection partner (smartphone 101) will be lost.

[0068] Next, we will explain a control method that can prevent the application of the in-vehicle device 100 from losing a connection opportunity with a desired connection partner even if a misconnection occurs. Here, the application is software executed by the control unit 201.

[0069] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing how the application program of the vehicle-mounted device in the first embodiment of the present invention controls the advertising restart process when an erroneous connection occurs.

[0070] First, the application determines whether or not a BLE connection has been established with the smartphone (S80). If the application determines that a BLE connection has not been established with the smartphone (S80, NO), the application continues to send advertising packets. In other words, the application processing returns to the processing of S80. If the application determines that a BLE connection has been established with the smartphone (S80, YES), the application processing proceeds to the processing of S81.

[0071] The application determines whether a misconnection has occurred (S81). The processing of S81 will be described in detail in the sections explaining the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth misconnection detection methods.

[0072] If the application determines that no erroneous connection has occurred (S81, NO), the in-vehicle device 100 is connected to the intended smartphone via BLE, and therefore performs communication processing related to the application (S84). On the other hand, if the application determines that a erroneous connection has occurred (S81, YES), it disconnects the BLE connection with the smartphone (S82).

[0073] When the application disconnects the BLE connection with the unintended smartphone in the processing of S82, it transmits an instruction to the BLE communication unit 202 to resume the stopped transmission of the advertisement packets. The BLE communication unit 202 resumes the transmission of the advertisement packets based on the instruction received from the application (S83). The BLE communication unit 202 transmits a signal to the application indicating that the transmission of the advertisement packets has resumed. When the application receives the signal from the BLE communication unit 202 indicating that the transmission of the advertisement packets has resumed, it executes the processing of S80 again.

[0074] The process of S83 in FIG. 8 corresponds to restarting advertising of "Advertising_Handle=1" that was stopped due to an erroneous connection after the process of S62 in FIG.

[0075] This means that even if a misconnection occurs, advertising of the stopped advertising identifier (Advertising_Handle) can be resumed as appropriate, preventing the loss of the opportunity to connect with the intended connection partner.

[0076] <First method for detecting incorrect connection> In the first misconnection detection method, when the on-vehicle device 100 and the smartphone are connected via BLE, the on-vehicle device 100 detects the misconnection when there is no access from the smartphone to the characteristic of the on-vehicle device 100. The on-vehicle device 100 may also detect the misconnection when the access from the smartphone to the characteristic of the on-vehicle device 100 does not match the characteristic of the application of the on-vehicle device 100.

[0077] The process relating to the first erroneous connection detection method for an in-vehicle device will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a flowchart of the process relating to the first erroneous connection detection method for an in-vehicle device. Each process in the flowchart of Fig. 9 is executed by the control unit 201.

[0078] The control unit 201 determines whether there is an access from the smartphone to the characteristic of the vehicle-mounted device 100 (SA01).

[0079] Here, "access" refers to reading and writing characteristics, writing client configuration, etc. Writing client configuration is performed to enable notifications from the client side when data is updated on the GATT server side and the client wants to receive data notifications from the server. Data notifications from the server include, for example, Characteristic Value Notification or Characteristic Value Indication.

[0080] If the control unit 201 determines in the process of SA01 that there is no access from the smartphone side (SA01, YES), it determines that an erroneous connection has occurred (SA02).

[0081] When it is determined in the process of SA01 that there is access from the smartphone side (SA01, NO), the control unit 201 determines that there is no erroneous connection (SA03).

[0082] Next, referring to Fig. 10, we will explain the process when no erroneous connection occurs when establishing a BLE connection between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone. Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram when no erroneous connection occurs when establishing a BLE connection between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone. In Fig. 10, some applications A are represented as app A and some applications B are represented as app B.

[0083] The vehicle-mounted device 100 has two applications, application A and application B, which are executed by the control unit 201. Application A has characteristics A1, A2, A3, etc. Application B has characteristics B1, B2, B3, etc.

[0084] Application A sets advertising data in the BLE communication unit 202 (S200). Application A sets the value of "Advertising_Handle" to "1" and the value of Application A to UUID. In FIG. 10, this is expressed as "Advertising_Handle=1, UUID=Application A."

[0085] Application B sets advertising data in the BLE communication unit 202 (S201). Application B sets the value of "Advertising_Handle" to "2" and the value of Application B to UUID. In FIG. 10, this is expressed as "Advertising_Handle=2, UUID=Application B."

[0086] Application A instructs the BLE communication unit 202 to start advertising (S202). The start of advertising, in other words the start of transmission of advertising packets, is set using the "LE Set Extended Advertising Enable" command. More specifically, application A sets the parameter "Enable" to "Enable" as a value indicating the start of transmission, and sets the value of the parameter "Advertising_Handle" indicating the advertising identifier to "1". In FIG. 10, this is expressed as "Enable, Advertising_Handle=1".

[0087] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits an advertisement packet including the UUID of application A as a wireless signal (S203). The advertisement packet is broadcast at a predetermined interval. This allows other wireless communication devices present around the in-vehicle device 100 to detect the in-vehicle device 100. The other wireless communication devices are the smartphones 101 and 102 in FIG. 10 .

[0088] Application B instructs the BLE communication unit 202 to start advertising (S204). S204 is performed in the same manner as S202. Application B sets the parameter "Enable" to "Enable" as a value indicating the start of transmission, and sets the value of the parameter "Advertising_Handle" indicating the advertising identifier to "2". In FIG. 10, this is expressed as "Enable, Advertising_Handle=2".

[0089] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits an advertisement packet including the UUID of application B as a wireless signal (S205).

[0090] The BLE communication unit of the smartphone 101 receives the advertisement packet including the UUID of application A (S206).

[0091] The BLE communication unit of the smartphone 101 notifies the application A of the smartphone 101 that it has received the advertising packet (S207). The application A transmits a signal to the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 101 to cause it to transmit a connection request to the in-vehicle device 100 (S208).

[0092] When the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 101 receives the signal related to the process of S208, it transmits a connection request to the in-vehicle device 100 (S209).

[0093] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits a connection notification with the smartphone 101 to the application A of the in-vehicle device 100 (S210).

[0094] Almost simultaneously with the processing of S210, the BLE communication unit 202 stops transmitting the advertising packet with "Advertising_Handle=1." In addition, the BLE communication unit 202 notifies application A of the control unit 201 that the transmission of the advertising packet has been stopped (S211).

[0095] The BLE communication unit 202 establishes a BLE connection with the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 101 (S212).

[0096] Since the BLE connection with the in-vehicle device 100 is established in the process of S212, the smartphone 101 transmits a read request for the characteristic A1 to the application A of the in-vehicle device 100 (S213). The process of S213 corresponds to the access expected from the smartphone side in the process of SA01 in Fig. 9. Note that the request transmitted by the smartphone 101 in the process of S213 is not limited to a read request.

[0097] The application A of the vehicle-mounted device 100 transmits a response to the Read request in the process of S213 to the smartphone 101 (S214).

[0098] The operation after the process of S214 is the process of S84 in FIG.

[0099] Next, referring to Fig. 11, a process to be performed when a misconnection occurs when establishing a BLE connection between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone will be described. Fig. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a process to be performed when a misconnection occurs when establishing a BLE connection between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone. The same processes as those in Fig. 10 are given the same reference numerals as those in Fig. 11, and the description thereof will be omitted. In Fig. 11, some applications A are referred to as app A, and some applications B are referred to as app B.

[0100] When the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 receives the advertisement packet for application B from the in-vehicle device 100 in the process of S205, the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 notifies application B of the smartphone 102 that the advertisement packet has been received (S306).

[0101] The application B of the smartphone 102 transmits an instruction to the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 to transmit a request to connect to the in-vehicle device 100 (S308). The BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 transmits the connection request to the in-vehicle device 100 (S309).

[0102] If the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 receives an advertising packet for application A from the vehicle-mounted device 100 (S307) immediately before the process related to the connection request in S308 and the process of sending the connection request in S309, the BLE communication unit 202 will mistakenly recognize the connection request received in S309 as an advertisement for application A, i.e., a request for "Advertising_Handle=1".

[0103] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits a connection notification to application A based on the processing of S309 (S310). The BLE communication unit 202 stops transmitting the wireless signal of the advertising packet. Furthermore, the BLE communication unit 202 notifies application A of the control unit 201 that transmission of the advertising packet has been stopped (S311).

[0104] The in-vehicle device 100 and the smartphone 102 establish a BLE connection (S312).

[0105] An application A of the in-vehicle device 100 is connected to a smartphone 102 having an application B. Therefore, an expected access is not transmitted from the smartphone 102 to the in-vehicle device 100. The expected access here is an access to the application A of the in-vehicle device 100, such as a read request for characteristic A1 from application A of the smartphone 101 (S313). In reality, the processing of S313 is not performed, and therefore a read response (S314) from the in-vehicle device 100 to the smartphone 101, which is a response to the processing of S313, is not transmitted either.

[0106] The vehicle-mounted device 100 detects the erroneous connection when the expected access from the smartphone 102 is not received (S315).

[0107] The application A of the in-vehicle device 100 requests the BLE communication unit 202 to disconnect the BLE connection (S316).

[0108] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits a request to disconnect the BLE connection to the smartphone 102 (S317).

[0109] The in-vehicle device 100 and the smartphone 102 disconnect the BLE connection (S318).

[0110] The application A of the vehicle-mounted device 100 resumes transmission of the advertising packets that had been stopped (S319).

[0111] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits an advertisement packet including the UUID of application A as a wireless signal (S320).

[0112] As a result, in the first erroneous connection detection method, when the in-vehicle device 100 and the smartphone are connected via BLE, an erroneous connection is detected based on the absence of expected access from the smartphone.

[0113] <Second method for detecting incorrect connections> In the second erroneous connection detection method, when the wireless connection is disconnected from the smartphone, the vehicle-mounted device 100 detects that the vehicle-mounted device 100 has erroneously connected to an unintended device instead of the connection destination expected by the application of the vehicle-mounted device 100. In this case, the process of S82 in FIG. 8 can be omitted.

[0114] The process of the second erroneous connection detection method for the vehicle-mounted device will be described with reference to Fig. 12. Fig. 12 is a flowchart of the process of the second erroneous connection detection method for the vehicle-mounted device. Each process of the flowchart in Fig. 12 is executed by the control unit 201.

[0115] The control unit 201 determines whether a BLE connection has been established with the smartphone (SB01). When the control unit 201 determines that a BLE connection has not been established with the smartphone (SB01, NO), the control unit 201 returns to the processing of SB01.

[0116] When the control unit 201 determines that a BLE connection with the smartphone has been established (SB01, YES), the control unit 201 proceeds to the process of SB02.

[0117] The control unit 201 determines whether the BLE connection has been disconnected from the smartphone before the smartphone accesses the in-vehicle device 100 (SB02).

[0118] If the control unit 201 determines in the process of SB02 that the BLE connection has been disconnected from the smartphone side (SB01, YES), it determines that an incorrect connection has occurred and resumes the transmission of the advertisement packets that it had stopped (SB03).

[0119] When the control unit 201 determines in the process of SB02 that the BLE connection has not been disconnected from the smartphone side (SB02, NO), it starts the application process (SB04).

[0120] Next, referring to Fig. 13, a process when a misconnection occurs when establishing a BLE connection between the in-vehicle device 100 and a smartphone will be described. Fig. 13 is a sequence diagram of a process when a misconnection occurs when establishing a BLE connection between the in-vehicle device 100 and a smartphone. Regarding the process in Fig. 13, the same processes as those in Fig. 11 are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In Fig. 13, some application A is represented as app A and application B is represented as app B.

[0121] When the in-vehicle device 100 and the smartphone 102 establish a BLE connection in the process of S312, the smartphone 102 searches for a characteristic possessed by application B among the connected applications of the in-vehicle device 100. If the BLE-connected application of the in-vehicle device 100 does not have a characteristic corresponding to application B, application B of the smartphone 102 transmits an instruction to the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 to transmit a request to disconnect the BLE connection (S413).

[0122] The BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 transmits a request to disconnect the BLE connection to the BLE communication unit 202 (S414).

[0123] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits a disconnection response to the disconnection request of S414 to the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 (S415).

[0124] The in-vehicle device 100 and the smartphone 102 disconnect the BLE connection (S416).

[0125] The BLE communication unit 202 notifies application A that the BLE connection has been disconnected (S417).

[0126] The application A of the vehicle-mounted device 100 detects the erroneous connection based on the process of S417 (S418).

[0127] The application A of the vehicle-mounted device 100 resumes transmission of the advertising packets that had been stopped (S419).

[0128] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits an advertisement packet including the UUID of application A as a wireless signal (S420).

[0129] As a result, the second misconnection detection method detects a misconnection by checking whether the BLE connection is disconnected from the smartphone.

[0130] <Third method for detecting incorrect connections> In the third misconnection detection method, the multiple applications in the vehicle-mounted device 100 exchange the characteristics of each application among the multiple applications in advance. When an access from a smartphone to a characteristic of an application in the vehicle-mounted device 100 matches the characteristic of an application in another vehicle-mounted device 100, the vehicle-mounted device 100 detects a misconnection with a device other than the device originally intended to be connected.

[0131] More specifically, the in-vehicle device 100 notifies application B of the characteristic information of application A, and notifies application A of the characteristic information of application B. Application A and application B exchange characteristic information with each other before starting to send advertisements, thereby determining which application the characteristic accessed from the smartphone is intended for. As a result, application A detects that the characteristic is not intended for application A, and the same applies to application B.

[0132] The advertisement transmission process of the vehicle-mounted device 100 in the third misconnection detection method will be described with reference to Fig. 14. Fig. 14 is a flowchart of the advertisement transmission process of the vehicle-mounted device 100 in the third misconnection detection method. Note that, with regard to the process in Fig. 14, the same processes as those in Fig. 4 are assigned the same reference numerals, and their description will be omitted.

[0133] Before the process of S40, the control unit 201 exchanges characteristics defined by the application of the vehicle-mounted device 100 with a plurality of other applications of the vehicle-mounted device 100 (SC01). The subsequent process is the same as that of FIG.

[0134] The process relating to the third erroneous connection detection method for an in-vehicle device will be described with reference to Fig. 15. Fig. 15 is a flowchart of the process relating to the third erroneous connection detection method for an in-vehicle device. Each process in the flowchart of Fig. 15 is executed by the control unit 201.

[0135] The control unit 201 determines whether or not the access from the smartphone to the characteristic of the application of the vehicle-mounted device 100 matches the characteristic corresponding to the other application exchanged in advance (SC11).

[0136] In processing SB11, if the control unit 201 determines that the access from the smartphone to the characteristics of the application of the vehicle-mounted device 100 matches the characteristics corresponding to other applications that were previously exchanged (SB11, YES), it determines that an incorrect connection has occurred (SC12).

[0137] In processing SB11, if the control unit 201 determines that the access from the smartphone to the characteristics of the application of the vehicle-mounted device 100 does not match the characteristics corresponding to other applications that were previously exchanged (SC11, NO), it determines that there is no erroneous connection (SC13).

[0138] Next, referring to Fig. 16, a process to be performed when a misconnection occurs when establishing a BLE connection between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone will be described. Fig. 16 is a sequence diagram showing a process to be performed when a misconnection occurs when establishing a BLE connection between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone. The same processes as those in Fig. 11 are given the same reference numerals as those in Fig. 16, and the description thereof will be omitted. In Fig. 16, some applications A are referred to as app A, and some applications B are referred to as app B.

[0139] The application A of the vehicle-mounted device 100 transmits the characteristics A1, A2, A3, . . . to the application B (S500).

[0140] The application B of the vehicle-mounted device 100 transmits characteristics B1, B2, B3, . . . to the application A (S501).

[0141] When the BLE connection is established between the in-vehicle device 100 and the smartphone 102 in the process of S312, the application B of the smartphone 102 transmits an instruction to the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 to transmit a Write request to the in-vehicle device 100 (S515).

[0142] The BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 transmits a write request for the characteristic B1 to the application A of the in-vehicle device 100 (S516).

[0143] The application A of the in-vehicle device 100 detects an erroneous connection when the smartphone 102 accesses the characteristic B1, which is a characteristic that has been exchanged in advance and whose advertising has not stopped (S517).

[0144] The application A of the in-vehicle device 100 transmits a request to disconnect the BLE connection to the BLE communication unit 202 (S518).

[0145] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits a request to disconnect the BLE connection to the smartphone 102 (S519).

[0146] The in-vehicle device 100 and the smartphone 102 disconnect the BLE connection (S520).

[0147] The application A of the in-vehicle device 100 instructs the BLE communication unit 202 to start transmitting the advertising packets that have been stopped (S521).

[0148] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits an advertisement packet including the UUID of application A via wireless communication (S522).

[0149] As a result, in the third misconnection detection method, characteristics are exchanged in advance between multiple applications in the vehicle-mounted device 100, and a misconnection is detected based on whether a request for a characteristic of an application whose advertising has not stopped is received from the smartphone.

[0150] <Fourth method for detecting incorrect connections> In the fourth erroneous connection detection method, the control unit 201 sets a different UUID for each application in the BLE communication unit 202. The BLE communication unit 202 repeatedly transmits advertisement packets including the UUID. If the UUID included in the advertisement packet whose transmission has stopped does not match the UUID transmitted from the smartphone, the control unit 201 determines that the smartphone is not the connection destination expected by the first advertisement identifier.

[0151] As a specific example, each application sets a characteristic with common attributes on the GATT server. Here, a characteristic with common attributes among applications is called, for example, "First Order (FO)." After the in-vehicle device 100 and smartphone establish a BLE connection, the smartphone first writes the UUID value associated with its own application with which it wants to communicate to the "First Order (FO)." The application in the in-vehicle device 100 that receives the BLE connection notification references the UUID written in the "First Order (FO)" and compares the UUID associated with the application with the UUID written by the smartphone. If the UUIDs do not match, the in-vehicle device 100 determines that the device is not the intended device, i.e., that a misconnection has occurred.

[0152] The process of the fourth erroneous connection detection method for the vehicle-mounted device will be described with reference to Fig. 17. Fig. 17 is a flowchart of the process of the fourth erroneous connection detection method for the vehicle-mounted device.

[0153] The control unit 201 determines whether a UUID has been written to the first order (FO) (SD01). If the control unit 201 determines in the processing of SD01 that a UUID has not been written to the first order (FO) (SD01, NO), it returns to the processing of SD01.

[0154] If the control unit 201 determines that a UUID has been written to the first order (FO) (SD01, YES), it determines whether the UUID written to the first order (FO) matches the UUID associated with its own application (SD02).

[0155] If the control unit 201 determines that the UUID written in the first order (FO) in the process of SD02 does not match the UUID associated with its own application (SD02, NO), it determines that an incorrect connection has occurred (SD03).

[0156] If the control unit 201 determines that the UUID written in the first order (FO) in the processing of SD02 matches the UUID associated with its own application (SD02, YES), it determines that there is no erroneous connection (SD04).

[0157] Next, referring to Fig. 18, a process when a misconnection occurs when establishing a BLE connection between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone will be described. Fig. 18 is a sequence diagram of a process when a misconnection occurs when establishing a BLE connection between an in-vehicle device and a smartphone. Regarding the process in Fig. 18, the same processes as those in Fig. 11 are assigned the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.

[0158] When the BLE connection is established between the in-vehicle device 100 and the smartphone 102 in the process of S312, the application B of the smartphone 102 transmits a signal to the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 to cause the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 to transmit a write request to the in-vehicle device 100 (S613). This write request is a request to write the UUID of the application B to the characteristic FO of the application A of the in-vehicle device 100.

[0159] The BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 transmits a write request for the UUID of the application B to the characteristic FO of the application A of the in-vehicle device 100 (S614).

[0160] The application A of the in-vehicle device 100 sends a Write response to the BLE communication unit of the smartphone 102 (S615).

[0161] The application A of the in-vehicle device 100 detects the erroneous connection based on the fact that a write that does not match the UUID of its own application has been made to its own characteristic FO (S616).

[0162] The application A of the in-vehicle device 100 requests the BLE communication unit 202 to disconnect the BLE connection (S617).

[0163] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits a request to disconnect the BLE connection to the smartphone 102 (S618).

[0164] The in-vehicle device 100 and the smartphone 102 disconnect the BLE connection (S619).

[0165] The application A of the in-vehicle device 100 instructs the BLE communication unit 202 to start transmitting the advertising packets that have been stopped (S620).

[0166] The BLE communication unit 202 transmits an advertisement packet including the UUID of application A as a wireless signal (S621).

[0167] As a result, in the fourth misconnection detection method, each application has a characteristic with a common attribute, and the application detects a misconnection by checking whether the write to this characteristic with the common attribute matches the characteristic that the application has.

[0168] <Fifth method for detecting incorrect connection> In the fifth erroneous connection detection method, when the control unit 201 determines that the BLE-connected smartphone is not the expected connection destination, it stores the address of the smartphone. The control unit 201 causes the BLE communication unit 202 to resume repeated transmission of advertising packets corresponding to the advertising identifier whose transmission has been stopped. When the BLE communication unit 202 receives a BLE connection request, the control unit 201 determines whether the address of the smartphone that is the sender of the received connection request matches the stored address. When the control unit 201 determines that they match, it determines that the smartphone that is the sender of the received connection request is not the connection destination expected by the advertising identifier.

[0169] More specifically, the fifth misconnection detection method is as follows. The first misconnection is detected using any one of the first, second, third, or fourth misconnection detection methods, and the device address of the device where the misconnection occurred is cached. When the application of the in-vehicle device 100 receives a BLE connection notification from the second time onward, it compares the cached device address with the device address of the smartphone that received the BLE connection notification. If they match, it determines that the device is not the intended device. This reduces the time required to detect a misconnection from the second time onward. The cached device address is cleared to 0 when the in-vehicle device is started. In other words, the cached device address is cleared when the in-vehicle device is started.

[0170] Of the misconnection detection methods, the first, second, and fourth misconnection detection methods are useful in that they do not require the information exchange between applications described in the third misconnection detection method.

[0171] Among the misconnection detection methods, the first misconnection detection method and the second misconnection detection method are useful in that they do not require a characteristic with a common attribute between applications, as described in the fourth misconnection detection method.

[0172] The above is an example of a typical embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the scope of the embodiment shown in the specification and drawings, and can be modified and implemented within the scope that does not change the gist of the present invention.

[0173] <Variation 1> Modifications of the vehicle-mounted device in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0174] The configuration example of the wireless communication system in Modification 1 is the same as that in Fig. 1, and the hardware configuration of the vehicle-mounted device is also the same as that in Fig. 2. On the other hand, the software configuration of the vehicle-mounted device in Modification 1 is partially different from that in Fig. 3, and will be described using Fig. 19.

[0175] Fig. 19 is a diagram showing the hierarchical structure of the software program of the onboard device in Modification 1. In Fig. 19, the onboard device 800 is configured with software consisting of an advertisement arbitration service, application A, application B, GATT, ATT, L2CAP, and HCI. GATT, ATT, and L2CAP are also collectively referred to as a host stack.

[0176] The link layer and physical layer are hardware, and are a BT controller equivalent to the BLE communication unit 202.

[0177] The advertisement mediation service is software that can communicate with application A and application B, and by performing the processing described below, controls each application to suppress the resumption of advertising. The GATT, ATT, L2CAP, HCI, Link Layer, and Physical Layer configured under application A and application B have the same configuration as in Figure 3, so their description will be omitted.

[0178] The processing operation of the vehicle-mounted device configured as above will be explained below.

[0179] 20 is a flowchart showing advertising restart processing control performed by an application program of the in-vehicle device in Modification 1 when a misconnection occurs. The application is executed by a control unit (not shown) of the in-vehicle device 800. Therefore, the application may be read as the control unit (not shown) of the in-vehicle device 800.

[0180] First, the application determines whether or not a BLE connection has been established with the smartphone (S100). If the application determines that a BLE connection has not been established with the smartphone (S100, NO), advertising will continue, and the process returns to before S100. If the application determines that a BLE connection has been established with the smartphone (S100, YES), the process proceeds to S101. In the process of S101, the application determines whether or not a misconnection has occurred.

[0181] If the application determines that no misconnection has occurred (S101, NO), it means that it has connected to the intended party, and therefore performs processing related to the application (S103). On the other hand, if the application determines that a misconnection has occurred (S101: YES), it disconnects the BLE connection with the smartphone (S102). Next, in the processing of S104, the application notifies the advertisement mediation service of the occurrence of the misconnection. When notifying the occurrence of the misconnection, it also conveys at least one of the UUID and advertisement identifier of its own application.

[0182] The application determines whether it has received an instruction to suppress the start of advertising from the advertisement mediation service (S105). If the application determines that it has not received an instruction to suppress the start of advertising (S105, NO), it immediately resumes advertising (S107). On the other hand, if the application determines that it has received an instruction to suppress the start of advertising (S105, YES), it resumes advertising after waiting for a certain period of time (S106).

[0183] The method for detecting an erroneous connection in S101 can be the same as that in the first embodiment.

[0184] Next, the processing operation of the advertisement mediation service program will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0185] Fig. 21 is a flowchart showing how the advertisement mediation service program of the in-vehicle device in Modification 1 performs mediation control on application programs. Fig. 22 is a diagram showing a management table in which the advertisement mediation service program manages the number of misconnections and the frequency of misconnections for each application. In the figure, UUID1 (application A) represents a UUID for identifying application A, and UUID2 (application B) represents a UUID for identifying application B. Here, the management table is stored in the memory of storage unit 205, for example.

[0186] First, the advertisement mediation service determines whether or not it has received a notification of a misconnection from the application (S110). If it determines that it has not received a notification of a misconnection (S110, NO), it returns to the process before S110 and waits for a notification from the application.

[0187] On the other hand, if the advertisement mediation service determines that it has received a notification of a misconnection from an application (S110, YES), it counts the number of misconnections for that advertisement identifier (S111). The counted number of misconnections is used to update the number of misconnections in the management table shown in Fig. 12. Specifically, for application A, the number of misconnections corresponding to advertisement identifier 1 is updated to the counted value, and for application B, the number of misconnections corresponding to advertisement identifier 2 is updated to the counted value.

[0188] Next, the advertisement mediation service determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of processing (S112). If the advertisement mediation service determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed (S112, NO), it returns to the processing before S110. If the advertisement mediation service determines that the predetermined time has elapsed (S112, YES), it calculates the misconnection frequency, that is, the value obtained by dividing the number of misconnections by the predetermined time (S113). The calculated misconnection frequency is used to update the misconnection frequency in the management table shown in FIG. 12. Specifically, for application A, the misconnection frequency corresponding to advertisement identifier "1" is updated to the calculated misconnection frequency value, and for application B, the misconnection frequency corresponding to advertisement identifier "2" is updated to the calculated misconnection frequency value.

[0189] The advertisement mediation service determines whether the misconnection frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (S114). If the advertisement mediation service determines that the misconnection frequency is not equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold (S114, NO), the process proceeds to S116. If the advertisement mediation service determines that the misconnection frequency is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold (S114, YES), the advertisement mediation service instructs the application to suppress the start of advertising for the advertisement identifier (S115). Note that the threshold can be variable depending on the number of applications set up in the vehicle-mounted device.

[0190] The advertisement arbitration service clears the number of misconnections and the misconnection frequency to 0 (S116). Fig. 22 shows the state of the management table when the values ​​are cleared to 0.

[0191] As described above, the in-vehicle device 800 of the first modification further includes an advertisement mediation service program, which makes it possible to monitor the frequency of erroneous connections and suppress for a certain period of time the resumption of advertising when the frequency of erroneous connections is high. This contributes to suppressing erroneous connections and improving connectivity with the intended device.

[0192] It has been explained that the advertisement mediation service program monitors the frequency of misconnections and suppresses the resumption of advertisements with a high frequency of misconnections for a certain period of time, but this is not limited to this, and the period of advertisements with a high frequency of misconnections may also be controlled to be longer than before the misconnection occurred.

[0193] As described above, a wireless communication device (for example, the in-vehicle device 100) according to this embodiment includes a communication unit (for example, the BLE communication unit 202) that performs wireless communication with other wireless communication devices, and a control unit (for example, the control unit 201) that controls the communication unit. The control unit sets a different advertising identifier for each application in the communication unit. The communication unit repeatedly transmits advertising packets that correspond to the set advertising identifier and do not include the advertising identifier. The communication unit receives a wireless communication connection request transmitted from a first wireless communication device that is one of the other wireless communication devices that has received the advertising packet. The communication unit stops transmitting the advertising packet that was transmitted immediately before receiving the connection request. The communication unit wirelessly connects to the first wireless communication device that is the sender of the connection request. The control unit determines whether the first advertising identifier, which is the advertising identifier corresponding to the advertising packet whose transmission has stopped, is the connection destination expected by the wirelessly connected first wireless communication device (for example, the smartphone 101 or 102).

[0194] This allows the wireless communication device to detect a wireless communication connection with another wireless communication device with which it is not intended to connect, thereby preventing the loss of an opportunity to connect with a connection partner with which it is originally hoping to connect.

[0195] Furthermore, when the control unit according to this embodiment determines that the wirelessly connected first wireless communication device is not the connection destination expected by the first advertising identifier, it disconnects the wireless connection with the first wireless communication device. The control unit causes the communication unit to resume repeated transmission of the advertising packet corresponding to the first advertising identifier whose transmission has been stopped. This causes the wireless communication device to resume transmission of the advertising packet that was stopped due to a wireless communication connection with another wireless communication device that is not the intended connection, thereby enabling connection with the intended connection destination.

[0196] Furthermore, the control unit according to the present embodiment determines that the first wireless communication device is not the connection destination expected by the first advertisement identifier when access to the characteristic from the first wireless communication device does not match the first characteristic associated with the first advertisement identifier, or when there is no access from the first wireless communication device to the first characteristic. As a result, the wireless communication device can detect that the device is not intended for connection by determining whether there is expected access to the characteristic possessed by the wireless communication device, and can avoid losing a connection opportunity with the connection partner that is originally expected to be connected.

[0197] Furthermore, when the wireless connection is disconnected from the first wireless communication device, the control unit according to the present embodiment determines that the first wireless communication device is not the connection destination expected by the first advertising identifier. This allows the wireless communication device to detect that the wireless communication connection is disconnected from another wireless communication device, and to avoid losing a connection opportunity with the connection partner that was originally expected to be connected.

[0198] Furthermore, the control unit according to this embodiment determines that the first wireless communication device is not the connection destination expected by the first advertising identifier when access to the characteristic from the first wireless communication device matches a second characteristic associated with a second advertising identifier different from the first advertising identifier. This allows the wireless communication device to detect that the wireless communication device is connecting to a device that is not intended to be connected by accessing a characteristic different from the characteristic of the wireless communication device. This allows the wireless communication device to avoid losing a connection opportunity with a connection partner that is originally expected to be connected.

[0199] Furthermore, the control unit according to this embodiment sets a different UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) ​​for each application in the communication unit. The communication unit repeatedly transmits advertising packets including the UUID. If the UUID included in the advertising packet whose transmission has been stopped does not match the UUID transmitted from the first wireless communication device, the control unit determines that the first wireless communication device is not the connection destination expected by the first advertising identifier. As a result, the wireless communication device can detect that the device is not intended to be connected to by determining whether the UUID included in the advertising packet matches the UUID of the wireless communication device. As a result, the wireless communication device can avoid losing an opportunity to connect with a connection partner that it originally expected to connect to.

[0200] Furthermore, the control unit according to this embodiment stores the address of the first wireless communication device when it determines that the first wireless communication device is not the connection destination expected by the first advertising identifier. The control unit causes the communication unit to resume repeated transmission of advertising packets corresponding to the first advertising identifier, the transmission of which has been stopped. When the communication unit receives a connection request, the control unit determines whether the address of the other wireless communication device that is the sender of the received connection request matches the stored address of the first wireless communication device. If the control unit determines that they match, it determines that the other wireless communication device that is the sender of the received connection request is not the connection destination expected by the first advertising identifier. As a result, if the wireless communication device detects a connection with an unintended device once, it can detect the connection with the unintended device by comparing the device addresses in subsequent connections. This allows the wireless communication device to avoid losing an opportunity to connect with a connection partner that it originally intended to connect to.

[0201] Furthermore, the control unit according to the present embodiment measures, for each advertising identifier, the frequency of wireless connections with other wireless communication devices that are not the expected destinations of the advertising identifier. When the control unit causes the communication unit to resume repeated transmission of advertising packets corresponding to advertising identifiers whose frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the control unit waits for a predetermined period of time before resuming the repeated transmission. This prevents the wireless communication device from repeatedly connecting to unintended devices.

[0202] Furthermore, the communication unit according to the present embodiment controls wireless communication based on the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard, thereby enabling the wireless communication device to transmit multiple advertisement packets defined in the Bluetooth standard.

[0203] The above-described embodiment and modified example illustrate a case where two smartphones are connected to an in-vehicle device, but the present invention can also be applied to a case where multiple remote devices are connected. Remote devices are not limited to smartphones; tablet devices, conventional mobile phones, audio players, smartwatches, remote controls, etc. can also be connected. In particular, the in-vehicle device illustrated in the modified example is effective in situations where multiple remote devices exist and erroneous connections frequently occur, shortening the overall connection time until all remote devices are connected via BLE, i.e., improving wireless bandwidth utilization efficiency.

[0204] Although the host stack consisting of GATT, ATT, and L2CAP has been described as software, it may be installed within the hardware of the BT controller, moving the interface between the software and hardware.

[0205] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment and modified examples, an in-vehicle device has been described as an example of a wireless communication device that executes the processes shown in FIGS. 8, 20, and 21, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to various devices such as televisions, Blu-ray / DVD recorders, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, microwave ovens, lighting fixtures, air conditioners, air purifiers, cameras, printers, projectors, scanners, fitness equipment, vending machines, game machines, and beacon devices that are installed in stores and require connection. The present invention has been described as having a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-mentioned embodiments stored in an onboard device, but it is not limited to this and can also be realized by supplying the program to the device via an external network, OTA (Over The Air), or a storage medium, and having a processor in the computer of the device read and execute the program.

[0206] Note that part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as in the following supplementary notes, but are not limited to the following descriptions. <Additional Notes> (Item 1) A wireless communication device, a communication unit that performs wireless communication with another wireless communication device; and a control unit that controls the communication unit, The control unit setting a different advertisement identifier for each application in the communication unit; The communication unit Repeatedly transmitting advertisement packets corresponding to the set advertisement identifier but not including the advertisement identifier; receiving a wireless communication connection request transmitted from a first wireless communication device that is one of the other wireless communication devices that received the advertisement packet; Stopping transmission of the advertisement packet that was transmitted immediately before receiving the connection request; wirelessly connect to the first wireless communication device that is the source of the connection request; The control unit determining whether the first advertising identifier, which is the advertising identifier corresponding to the advertising packet whose transmission has been stopped, is an expected connection destination by the wirelessly connected first wireless communication device; Wireless communication device.

[0207] (Item 2) The control unit When the wirelessly connected first wireless communication device determines that the first advertising identifier is not the expected connection destination, the wireless connection with the first wireless communication device is terminated; causing the communication unit to resume repeated transmission of the advertisement packet corresponding to the first advertisement identifier whose transmission has been stopped; Item 1. A wireless communication device according to item 1.

[0208] (Item 3) The control unit If an access to a characteristic from the first wireless communication device does not match the first characteristic associated with the first advertising identifier, or if there is no access to the first characteristic from the first wireless communication device, the first wireless communication device determines that the first advertising identifier is not the expected connection destination. Item 1 or 2. The wireless communication device according to item 1 or 2.

[0209] (Item 4) The control unit When the wireless connection from the first wireless communication device is disconnected, the first wireless communication device determines that the first advertisement identifier is not the expected connection destination. Item 1 or 2. The wireless communication device according to item 1 or 2.

[0210] (Item 5) The control unit If the access to the characteristic from the first wireless communication device matches a second characteristic associated with a second advertising identifier different from the first advertising identifier, the first wireless communication device determines that the first advertising identifier is not the expected connection destination. Item 1 or 2. The wireless communication device according to item 1 or 2.

[0211] (Item 6) The control unit A UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) ​​that is different for each application is set in the communication unit, The communication unit repeatedly transmitting the advertisement packet including the UUID; The control unit If the UUID included in the advertisement packet whose transmission has stopped does not match the UUID transmitted from the first wireless communication device, the first wireless communication device determines that the first advertisement identifier is not the expected connection destination. Item 1 or 2. The wireless communication device according to item 1 or 2.

[0212] (Item 7) The control unit When the first wireless communication device determines that the first advertising identifier is not an expected connection destination, it stores an address of the first wireless communication device; causing the communication unit to resume repeated transmission of the advertising packet corresponding to the first advertising identifier whose transmission has been stopped; When the communication unit receives the connection request, it determines whether or not an address of the other wireless communication device that is a sender of the received connection request matches an address of the first wireless communication device that has been stored; If it is determined that there is a match, it determines that the other wireless communication device that is the source of the received connection request is not the connection destination expected by the first advertisement identifier. Item 7. The wireless communication device according to any one of items 2 to 6.

[0213] (Item 8) The control unit For each of the advertising identifiers, measuring the frequency of wireless connections with other wireless communication devices that are not expected destinations for the advertising identifiers; When the communication unit is caused to resume the repeated transmission of the advertisement packet corresponding to the advertisement identifier whose frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the communication unit is caused to wait for a predetermined period of time and then resume the repeated transmission. 8. The wireless communication device according to any one of items 1 to 7.

[0214] (Item 9) The communication unit controls wireless communication based on the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard. 2. The wireless communication device of claim 1. Item 9. The wireless communication device according to any one of items 1 to 8.

[0215] (Item 10) A wireless communication method by a wireless communication device, Set a different advertisement identifier for each application, Repeatedly transmitting advertisement packets corresponding to the set advertisement identifier but not including the advertisement identifier; receiving a wireless communication connection request transmitted from a first wireless communication device that is one of the other wireless communication devices that received the advertisement packet; Stopping transmission of the advertisement packet that was transmitted immediately before receiving the connection request; wirelessly connect to the first wireless communication device that is the source of the connection request; determining whether the first advertising identifier, which is the advertising identifier corresponding to the advertising packet whose transmission has been stopped, is an expected connection destination by the wirelessly connected first wireless communication device; Wireless communication method.

[0216] (Item 11) 11. A method for wireless communication according to claim 10, Computer program.

[0217] Although the embodiments have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art can conceive of various modifications, alterations, substitutions, additions, deletions, and equivalents within the scope of the claims, and it is understood that these also fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the components in the above-described embodiments may be combined in any manner without departing from the spirit of the invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0218] The wireless communication device of the present invention is useful as a beacon device that is installed and connected to in-vehicle devices, televisions, Blu-ray / DVD recorders, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, microwave ovens, lighting equipment, air conditioners, air purifiers, cameras, printers, projectors, scanners, fitness equipment, vending machines, game machines, stores, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0219] 1. Wireless communication systems 100,800 Onboard equipment 101,102 Smartphones 201 Control Unit 202 BLE Communication Department 203 Display section 204 Input section 205 Storage section 206 Timing section

Claims

1. A wireless communication device, a communication unit that performs wireless communication with another wireless communication device; and a control unit that controls the communication unit, The control unit setting a different advertisement identifier for each application in the communication unit; The communication unit Repeatedly transmitting advertisement packets corresponding to the set advertisement identifier but not including the advertisement identifier; receiving a wireless communication connection request transmitted from a first wireless communication device that is one of the other wireless communication devices that received the advertisement packet; Stopping transmission of the advertisement packet that was transmitted immediately before receiving the connection request; wirelessly connecting to the first wireless communication device that is the source of the connection request; The control unit determining whether or not a first advertisement identifier, which is the advertisement identifier corresponding to the advertisement packet whose transmission has been stopped, is an expected connection destination by the wirelessly connected first wireless communication device; Wireless communication device.

2. The control unit When the wirelessly connected first wireless communication device determines that the first advertising identifier is not the expected connection destination, the wireless connection with the first wireless communication device is terminated; causing the communication unit to resume repeated transmission of the advertisement packet corresponding to the first advertisement identifier, the transmission of which has been stopped; The wireless communication device according to claim 1 .

3. The control unit If an access to a characteristic from the first wireless communication device does not match the first characteristic associated with the first advertising identifier, or if there is no access to the first characteristic from the first wireless communication device, the first wireless communication device determines that the first advertising identifier is not the expected connection destination.

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

4. The control unit When the wireless connection from the first wireless communication device is disconnected, the first wireless communication device determines that the first advertising identifier is not an expected connection destination.

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

5. The control unit If the access to the characteristic from the first wireless communication device matches a second characteristic associated with a second advertising identifier different from the first advertising identifier, the first wireless communication device determines that the first advertising identifier is not the expected connection destination.

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

6. The control unit A UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) ​​that is different for each application is set in the communication unit; The communication unit repeatedly transmitting the advertisement packet including the UUID; The control unit If the UUID included in the advertising packet whose transmission has stopped does not match the UUID transmitted from the first wireless communication device, the first wireless communication device determines that the first advertising identifier is not the expected connection destination.

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

7. The control unit When the first wireless communication device determines that the first advertising identifier is not an expected connection destination, it stores an address of the first wireless communication device; causing the communication unit to resume repeated transmission of the advertisement packet corresponding to the first advertisement identifier whose transmission has been stopped; When the communication unit receives the connection request, it determines whether or not an address of the other wireless communication device that is a sender of the received connection request matches an address of the first wireless communication device that has been stored; If it is determined that there is a match, the other wireless communication device that is the source of the received connection request determines that the first advertisement identifier is not an expected connection destination. The wireless communication device according to claim 2 .

8. The control unit For each of the advertising identifiers, measuring the frequency of wireless connections with other wireless communication devices that are not expected destinations for the advertising identifiers; When the communication unit is caused to resume the repeated transmission of the advertisement packet corresponding to the advertisement identifier whose frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the communication unit is caused to wait for a predetermined period of time and then resume the repeated transmission. The wireless communication device according to claim 2 .

9. the communication unit controls wireless communication based on the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard; The wireless communication device according to claim 1 .

10. A wireless communication method by a wireless communication device, Set a different advertisement identifier for each application, Repeatedly transmitting advertisement packets corresponding to the set advertisement identifier but not including the advertisement identifier; receiving a wireless communication connection request transmitted from a first wireless communication device that is one of the other wireless communication devices that received the advertisement packet; Stopping transmission of the advertisement packet that was transmitted immediately before receiving the connection request; wirelessly connecting to the first wireless communication device that is the source of the connection request; determining whether or not a first advertisement identifier, which is the advertisement identifier corresponding to the advertisement packet whose transmission has been stopped, is an expected connection destination by the wirelessly connected first wireless communication device; Wireless communication method.

11. A method for wireless communication according to claim 10, Computer program.

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