Vehicle information processing system

Abstract

To provide an information processing device for a vehicle that can suppress an increase in a load by suppressing a transmission frequency to a server.SOLUTION: An information processing device comprises: a positional information acquiring device that acquires information for indicating a position of a vehicle; and an information transmitting device that periodically transmits the information for indicating the position of the vehicle acquired by the positional information acquiring device to a server. The information processing device changes a transmission interval, during which the information for indicating the position of the vehicle is transmitted to the server, depending on a speed range of the vehicle. The information processing device makes a transmission interval in a second speed range, in which the speed of the vehicle is higher than a first speed range, longer than a transmission interval in the first speed range.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to an information processing device for a vehicle.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a system including a server and an in-vehicle information communication device. The in-vehicle information communication device transmits information regarding the current position of the vehicle to the server. The in-vehicle information communication device transmits the position information to the server during congestion such as when traffic jams occur, and suppresses the transmission of position information when there is no congestion. With such a configuration, the in-vehicle communication device can suppress the number of communications when there is no congestion and efficiently notify the position of the vehicle during congestion to inform the traffic congestion situation of the road.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The position information of a vehicle can be used not only for grasping the traffic congestion situation but also for recording the driving history of the vehicle and traffic flow surveys. If the communication frequency between the information processing device mounted on the vehicle that transmits the position information of the vehicle to the server and the server is too low, the position of the vehicle cannot be accurately grasped. On the other hand, if the communication frequency between the information processing device and the server is too high, the load on the information processing device will increase.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] Hereinafter, the means for solving the above problems and their effects will be described. A vehicle information processing device for solving the above problems comprises a location information acquisition device that acquires information indicating the location of the vehicle, and an information transmission device that periodically transmits the information indicating the location of the vehicle acquired by the location information acquisition device to a server. The vehicle information processing device changes the transmission interval for transmitting the information indicating the location of the vehicle to the server according to the vehicle's speed range, and makes the transmission interval for the second speed range, where the vehicle's speed is higher than that for the first speed range, larger than the transmission interval for the first speed range. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] The vehicle's information processing device increases the transmission interval for sending location information to the server when the vehicle speed increases. For example, when the vehicle speed is high, the roads it can travel on are limited, so the server can reasonably predict the vehicle's movement path without receiving location information frequently. Therefore, when the vehicle speed is high, the vehicle's information processing device can reduce the frequency of transmissions from the information processing device to the server by increasing the transmission interval for sending location information to the server. This helps to reduce the load on the information processing device. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] Figure 1 shows an example of an information processing system equipped with a vehicle information processing device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the processing flow performed by the vehicle information processing device according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a state transition diagram of the mode switching process executed by the vehicle information processing device according to this embodiment when no guidance route is set. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a state transition diagram of the mode switching process executed by the vehicle information processing device according to this embodiment when a guidance route is set. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] The following describes an embodiment of the vehicle's information processing device with reference to Figures 1 to 4. <Configuration of the vehicle information processing device 10> The vehicle information processing device 10 is installed in the vehicle 100. The information processing device 10 is connected to the server 200 so that it can communicate with it. The information processing device 10 then transmits information about the current location of the vehicle 100 to the server 200. The information processing device 10, together with the server 200, constitutes the vehicle information processing system. Based on the vehicle's location information, the server 200 manages information such as road congestion and the vehicle's driving history. This information can be used for traffic flow surveys, etc. The server 200 collects and analyzes location data from many vehicles. The server 200 also organizes and provides the collected data.

[0009] As shown in Figure 1, the information processing device 10 comprises a location information acquisition device 20, an information transmission device 30, a navigation device 40, and a storage device 50. The location information acquisition device 20 acquires the current location of the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the location information acquisition device 20 acquires the current location of the vehicle 100 using radio waves from satellites received by a receiver of the satellite positioning system. The information transmission device 30 periodically transmits the location information of the vehicle 100 acquired by the location information acquisition device 20 to the server 200. The navigation device 40 comprises a receiver of the satellite positioning system, a display, an input unit, and a storage unit that stores data such as map information. The navigation device 40 sets a guidance route to the destination and provides route guidance. The storage device 50 is implemented by, for example, RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc. The storage device 50 stores mode information corresponding to the speed range described below.

[0010] The following will specifically explain the processing flow executed in the information processing device 10, with reference to Figure 2. Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the information processing device 10. This series of processes is repeatedly performed by the information processing device 10 while the vehicle 100 is in operation. As shown in Figure 2, when this series of processes is started, the information processing device 10 first acquires the location information of the vehicle 100 from the location information acquisition device 20 in step S100. Specifically, the navigation device 40 determines the current position of the vehicle 100 using radio waves from satellites received by the satellite positioning system receiver while the vehicle 100 is in motion. The location information acquisition device 20 obtains the current position of the vehicle 100 from the navigation device 40.

[0011] Next, in step S110, the information processing device 10 confirms the speed of the vehicle 100. For the speed of the vehicle 100, it is acceptable to use a speed that can be obtained by a well-known method, such as the speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor mounted on the vehicle 100 or the speed displayed on the vehicle 100's dashboard.

[0012] Next, in step S120, the information processing device 10 determines whether the execution condition for transmitting information about the current location of the vehicle 100 to the server 200 has been met. The execution condition is a condition for determining whether the vehicle 100's location information can be accurately determined. After the vehicle 100 starts operating, it takes some time before it begins to receive radio waves from the satellite. Once it receives radio waves from the satellite and its location information can be determined, and it is traveling at a certain speed, it becomes possible to determine whether the location information can be accurately determined based on the change in location information and the vehicle speed. The execution condition is, for example, a logical AND condition of the following two conditions. In other words, the information processing device 10 determines that the execution condition has been met when both of the following two conditions are met.

[0013] • The vehicle speed must be above the second threshold. • The change in the position of the vehicle 100, as detected by the navigation device 40, is consistent with the vehicle speed.

[0014] After the operation of the vehicle 100 starts, once the execution condition is satisfied, the information processing device 10 continues to determine that the execution condition is satisfied until the operation of the vehicle 100 stops. The second threshold value is, for example, 40 kilometers per hour.

[0015] If it is determined in the process of step S120 that the execution condition is satisfied (step S120: YES), the information processing device 10 advances the process to step S130. In the process of step S130, the information processing device 10 performs mode switching processing for switching the transmission interval for transmitting the position information to the server 200 according to the speed range of the vehicle 100. Details of the mode switching processing will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0016] Next, in the process of step S140, the information processing device 10 transmits the position information of the vehicle 100 acquired by the position information acquisition device 20 to the server 200. That is, the position information of the vehicle 100 is transmitted to the server 200 at the transmission interval corresponding to the selected mode. Further, in the process of step S140, the information processing device 10 transmits the information indicating the position of the vehicle 100 acquired by the position information acquisition device 20 to the server 200 together with the information regarding the selected mode. Then, the information processing device 10 returns this series of processes.

[0017] On the other hand, in the process of step S120, if it is determined that the execution condition is not satisfied (step S120: NO), the information processing device 10 returns the process. <Mode Switching Processing> Hereinafter, the mode switching processing in the information processing device 10 of the vehicle will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a state transition diagram of mode switching processing executed by the information processing apparatus 10 when a guidance route to a destination is not set by the navigation apparatus 40. As shown in FIG. 3, in this mode switching processing, a temporary stop mode, a low speed mode, a medium speed mode, and a high speed mode are set as modes corresponding to the speed range of the vehicle 100. The storage device 50 of the information processing apparatus 10 stores the plurality of modes. The speed range increases in the order of the temporary stop mode, the low speed mode, the medium speed mode, and the high speed mode. Specifically, the high speed mode is a mode in which the third threshold value is the lower limit value of the vehicle speed. That is, the high speed mode is a mode corresponding to a speed range of the third threshold value or more. For example, the third threshold value is 60 km / h. The medium speed mode is a mode in which a second threshold value lower than the third threshold value is the lower limit value of the speed range. That is, the medium speed mode is a mode corresponding to a speed range of the second threshold value or more and less than the third threshold value. For example, the second threshold value is 40 km / h. The low speed mode is a mode in which a first threshold value lower than the second threshold value is the lower limit value of the speed range. That is, the low speed mode is a mode corresponding to a speed range of the first threshold value or more and less than the second threshold value. For example, the first threshold value is 5 km / h. The temporary stop mode is a mode corresponding to a speed range less than the first threshold value.

[0019] A transmission interval of position information is set for each mode. A larger transmission interval is set for a mode corresponding to a higher speed range. Specifically, the transmission interval is set to "small" for the temporary stop mode and the low speed mode. The transmission interval is set to "medium" for the medium speed mode. The transmission interval is set to "large" for the high speed mode.

[0020] The transmission interval is the interval at which the information transmission device 30 transmits the location information of the vehicle 100 to the server 200. The navigation device 40 and the location information acquisition device 20 acquire the location information of the vehicle 100 at intervals of less than 1 second, for example. The information transmission device 30 transmits the location information to the server 200 at the transmission interval set according to the mode. When the transmission interval is "short", the information transmission device 30 transmits the location information to the server 200 at intervals of less than 1 second, for example, the same interval at which the navigation device 40 and the location information acquisition device 20 acquire location information. When the transmission interval is "medium", the information transmission device 30 transmits the location information to the server 200 at intervals of several seconds, for example. In this case, the information transmission device 30 transmits the location information acquired at that time to the server 200 every few seconds. In other words, when the transmission interval is "medium", the frequency at which location information is transmitted to the server 200 is lower than when the transmission interval is "short", and a reduced amount of location information is transmitted to the server 200. When the transmission interval is set to "Large," the information transmission device 30 transmits location information to the server 200 at intervals of several tens of seconds, for example. In this case, the information transmission device 30 transmits the location information acquired at that time to the server 200 every several tens of seconds. In other words, when the transmission interval is set to "Large," the frequency at which location information is transmitted to the server 200 is even lower than when the transmission interval is set to "Medium," and more filtered location information is transmitted to the server 200.

[0021] As shown in the state transition diagram in Figure 3, the mode switching process transitions each time the transition condition is met. When the execution condition is met and the switching process starts, the switching process begins from the medium speed mode.

[0022] When medium speed mode is selected, the transmission interval is set to "medium". When medium speed mode is selected and the speed of vehicle 100 exceeds the third threshold, high speed mode is selected and the mode transitions to high speed mode.

[0023] When high-speed mode is selected, the transmission interval is set to "Large". When high-speed mode is selected and the speed of vehicle 100 falls below the third threshold, medium-speed mode is selected and the mode transitions to medium-speed mode.

[0024] If medium speed mode is selected, when the vehicle 100's speed falls below the second threshold, low speed mode is selected and the mode transitions to low speed mode. When low-speed mode is selected, the transmission interval is set to "small". When low-speed mode is selected and the vehicle speed of vehicle 100 exceeds the second threshold, medium-speed mode is selected and the mode transitions to medium-speed mode. When low-speed mode is selected and the vehicle speed of vehicle 100 falls below the first threshold, temporary stop mode is selected and the mode transitions to temporary stop mode. When temporary stop mode is selected, the transmission interval is set to "small".

[0025] When the temporary stop mode is selected, if the vehicle speed of vehicle 100 remains below the stop threshold for a certain period of time, the stop mode is selected and the mode transitions to the stop mode. The stop threshold is lower than the first threshold. The stop threshold is, for example, 3 kilometers per hour. The stop mode is the mode corresponding to the lowest vehicle speed range among multiple modes. When the stop mode is selected, the information processing device 10 stops transmitting location information. In other words, the information processing device 10 stops transmitting location information to the server 200 in the processing of S140. When the vehicle speed of vehicle 100 becomes higher than the stop threshold while the stop mode is selected, the temporary stop mode is selected and the mode transitions to the temporary stop mode.

[0026] Figure 4 is a state transition diagram of the mode switching process executed by the information processing device 10 when the navigation device 40 has set a guidance route to the destination. The mode switching process when a guidance route is set differs in only a part from the mode switching process when a guidance route is not set, as explained with reference to Figure 3. Specifically, only the conditions for switching to high-speed mode are different. Therefore, only this difference will be explained here. The explanation of a configuration similar to the example of the mode switching process shown in Figure 3 will be omitted.

[0027] When a guided route is set by the navigation device 40, the navigation device 40 can recognize whether the vehicle 100 is traveling on an expressway or on a general road other than an expressway. Therefore, when a guided route is set, the information processing device 10 decides whether or not to select the high-speed mode corresponding to the highest speed range, depending on whether or not the navigation device 40 recognizes that the vehicle is traveling on an expressway, as shown in Figure 4.

[0028] As shown in Figure 4, specifically, when the medium speed mode is selected and the navigation system 40 recognizes that the vehicle is traveling on a highway, the information processing device 10 selects the high-speed mode. When the high-speed mode is selected and the navigation system 40 recognizes that the vehicle is not traveling on a highway, the information processing device 10 selects the medium speed mode instead of the high-speed mode. Once the high-speed mode is no longer selected, the information processing device 10 will select one of the following modes depending on the speed range: medium speed mode, low speed mode, temporary stop mode, or stopped mode.

[0029] In this way, the information processing device 10 selects a mode according to the speed range through a switching process. Then, through the process in step S140, the information processing device 10 transmits location information to the server 200 at a transmission interval corresponding to the selected mode. In addition, in the process in step S140, the information processing device 10 transmits to the server 200 information indicating the location of the vehicle 100 acquired by the location information acquisition device 20, along with information regarding the selected mode.

[0030] <Operation of this embodiment> The information processing device 10 comprises a location information acquisition device 20 that acquires information indicating the location of the vehicle 100, and an information transmission device 30 that periodically transmits the location information of the vehicle 100 acquired by the location information acquisition device 20 to the server 200. The information processing device 10 changes the transmission interval for transmitting the location information of the vehicle 100 to the server 200 according to the speed range of the vehicle 100, and makes the transmission interval for the second speed range, where the vehicle speed is higher than the first speed range, longer than the transmission interval for the first speed range. The first and second speed ranges correspond to the speed ranges of the temporary stop mode, low speed mode, medium speed mode, and high speed mode described above.

[0031] Thus, the information processing device 10 reduces the frequency of transmissions from the information processing device 10 to the server 200 as the vehicle speed increases. <Effects of this embodiment> (1) When the vehicle speed increases, the information processing device 10 increases the transmission interval at which it sends information indicating the location of the vehicle 100 to the server 200. For example, when the vehicle speed is high, the roads on which it can travel are limited, so the server 200 can reasonably predict the vehicle 100's movement path without having to receive information indicating the location of the vehicle 100 at a high frequency. Therefore, when the vehicle speed is high, the information processing device 10 can reduce the frequency of transmissions from the information processing device 10 to the server 200 by increasing the transmission interval at which it sends information indicating the location of the vehicle 100 to the server 200. This helps to reduce the load on the information processing device 10.

[0032] (2) The information processing device 10 is equipped with a storage device 50. The storage device 50 stores multiple modes, which are selected according to the speed range of the vehicle 100, and in which modes corresponding to higher speed ranges have longer transmission intervals. The information processing device 10 changes the transmission interval by selecting a mode according to the speed range of the vehicle 100.

[0033] In the information processing device 10, the transmission interval for sending information indicating the position of the vehicle 100 to the server 200 for each of the multiple modes is set to be longer for modes with higher vehicle speed ranges. Therefore, the information processing device 10 can set the vehicle 100's speed range in multiple stages and manage the transmission frequency to the server 200 in multiple stages as well. In this way, the information processing device 10 can prevent the transmission frequency from the information transmission device 30 to the server 200 from being too high or too low, so that the number of transmissions can be appropriately reduced and the server 200 can efficiently acquire the position of the vehicle 100.

[0034] (3) When the information processing device 10 has been in a speed range in which the mode corresponding to the lowest speed range among multiple modes is selected for a certain period of time or longer, it stops transmitting the information indicating the location of the vehicle 100 acquired by the location information acquisition device 20 to the server 200.

[0035] When vehicle 100 is in a state of extremely low speed, such as being almost stationary, the position of vehicle 100 does not change, so there is no need to transmit information about the position of vehicle 100. In the information processing device 10, when the vehicle 100 remains in the lowest speed range for a certain period of time, the information indicating the vehicle's position, acquired by the position information acquisition device 20, is not transmitted to the server 200. Therefore, when the vehicle 100 remains in an extremely low speed range, such as when it is almost stationary, unnecessary transmission can be suppressed. This helps to reduce the load on the information processing device 10.

[0036] (4) The information processing device 10 transmits to the server 200 information indicating the location of the vehicle 100 acquired by the location information acquisition device 20, along with information regarding the selected mode. Information about the selected mode can be used for traffic flow surveys, such as assessing congestion on the roads the vehicle is traveling on.

[0037] The information processing device 10 transmits not only information indicating the location of the vehicle 100, but also information regarding the selected mode to the server 200. Therefore, the information processing device 10 can provide the server 200 with information not only about the location of the vehicle 100, but also about the selected mode.

[0038] (5) The information processing device 10 is configured to include a navigation device 40 that can set a guidance route to a destination. When the guidance route to a destination is set by the navigation device 40, the information transmitting device 30 decides whether or not to select the high-speed mode, which corresponds to the highest speed range among several modes, depending on whether or not the navigation device 40 recognizes that the vehicle is traveling on a highway. The information processing device 10 selects the high-speed mode when the navigation device 40 recognizes that the vehicle is traveling on a highway. On the other hand, the information processing device 10 does not select the high-speed mode when the navigation device 40 recognizes that the vehicle is not traveling on a highway.

[0039] In the information processing device 10, when vehicle 100 enters a highway, the device switches to high-speed mode regardless of the vehicle speed. In this way, the location of vehicle 100 can be determined from the guidance route information to be on a highway. Therefore, when vehicle 100 is on a highway, even if the vehicle's speed is slow due to traffic congestion, for example, the transmission frequency can be kept low, similar to high-speed mode. This makes it possible to more efficiently reduce the load on the information processing device 10.

[0040] <Example of changes> This embodiment can be implemented with the following modifications. This embodiment and the following modifications can be combined with each other to the extent that they do not contradict each other technically.

[0041] As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the information processing device 10 performs switching processing between modes with adjacent speed ranges. However, the information processing device 10 of this embodiment can freely perform switching processing between each mode. For example, it can perform switching processing between low-speed mode and high-speed mode, and switching processing between low-speed mode and stopped mode.

[0042] The information processing device 10 stores the stopping mode, temporary stopping mode, low-speed mode, medium-speed mode, and high-speed mode in the storage device 50. However, the speed range does not necessarily have to be the same as in this embodiment and may be set as appropriate. For example, more modes may be set depending on the speed range, or fewer modes may be set. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0043] 10…Information Processing Devices 20…location information acquisition device 30… Information transmission device 40…Navigation system 50...Storage device 100...vehicles 200... Server

Claims

1. A location information acquisition device that acquires information indicating the location of a vehicle, An information transmission device that periodically transmits information indicating the location of the vehicle, acquired by the location information acquisition device, to a server, A vehicle information processing device equipped with a storage device, The transmission interval for sending information indicating the vehicle's position to the server is changed according to the vehicle's speed range. The transmission interval in the second speed range, where the vehicle speed is higher than in the first speed range, is made larger than the transmission interval in the first speed range. The storage device stores multiple modes in which the transmission interval is set to be larger for modes corresponding to higher speed ranges. The transmission interval is changed by selecting the mode corresponding to the vehicle's speed range. Vehicle information processing device.

2. The information transmission device stops transmitting the vehicle's location information, acquired by the location information acquisition device, to the server when the vehicle remains in a speed range where the mode corresponding to the lowest speed range among the multiple modes is selected for a certain period of time or longer. The vehicle information processing device according to claim 1.

3. The information transmission device transmits to the server information indicating the vehicle's location, along with information regarding the selected mode. The vehicle information processing device according to claim 1.

4. It is equipped with a navigation system that allows you to set a route to your destination. When the navigation device has set a route to the destination, the information transmission device determines whether or not to select the high-speed mode corresponding to the highest speed range among the multiple modes, depending on whether or not the navigation device recognizes that the vehicle is traveling on a highway. When the navigation system recognizes that the vehicle is traveling on a highway, select the highway mode. When the navigation system recognizes that the vehicle is not traveling on a highway, the highway mode is not selected. The vehicle information processing device according to claim 1.

Images