Optical communication apparatus, optical communication system, and optical communication method

• US 10,223,608 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2017
• Issued: 03/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Aoyama, Chiaki, Sahata, Tomoyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Osinski, Michael S
• Application Number:
  US15/470,106
• Publication Number:
  US 20170286794A1
• Time in Patent Office: 708 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10851 Circuits for pulse shaping, amplifying, eliminating noise signals, checking the function of the sensing device basic electronic circuitry H03
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10861 sensing of data fields affixed to objects or articles, e.g. coded labels postal sorting B07C3/14, conveying articles B65G47/48
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/97 Determining parameters from multiple pictures depth or shape recovery from multiple images G06T7/55; stereo camera calibration G06T7/85
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/98 Detection or correction of errors, e.g. by rescanning the pattern or by human intervention; Evaluation of the quality of the acquired patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/584 of vehicle lights or traffic lights
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/62 Text, e.g. of license plates, overlay texts or captions on TV images
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/625 License plates
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/617 for reducing electromagnetic interference, e.g. clocking noise

Abstract

An optical communication apparatus includes: a reception unit that receives, from a transmission apparatus which transmits a light signal including predetermined information, the transmitted light signal; a multipath removal unit that recognizes, when detecting a plurality of images having the same optical information in the received light signal, the light signal due to a reflection wave based on at least one of a luminance of the light signal, a size of an image corresponding to the light signal when receiving at the reception unit, and a propagation distance of the light signal and removes the light signal due to the reflection wave; and an control unit that acquires, from the light signal received by the reception unit, information based on the light signal obtained by removing the light signal due to the reflection wave by the multipath removal unit.

Claims

1. An optical communication apparatus, comprising:

a reception unit that receives, from a transmission apparatus which transmits a light signal including predetermined information, the transmitted light signal;

a multipath removal unit that recognizes, when detecting a plurality of images having the same optical information in the received light signal, a light signal due to a reflection wave based on at least one of a luminance of the light signal, a size of an image corresponding to the light signal when receiving at the reception unit, and a propagation distance of the light signal and removes the light signal due to the reflection wave; and

an control unit that acquires, from the light signal received by the reception unit, information based on the light signal obtained by removing the light signal due to the reflection wave by the multipath removal unit.

2. The optical communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the predetermined information is a light source group ID that identifies a light source group formed of a plurality of light signals transmitted by the transmission apparatus, a light source group position that indicates a position of the light source group, and a light source element position that indicates a position of a light source element which forms the light source group,

the predetermined information is hierarchized, and

the multipath removal unit detects the light signal due to the reflection wave for each hierarchy that becomes receivable by the reception unit.

3. The optical communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the light signal includes light source groups having the same identifier, and

the light signal of the light source groups having the same identifier is formed of a plurality of light source elements and includes light source group position information and a plurality of light source element positions.

4. The optical communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the multipath removal unit removes, from the light signal received by the reception unit, the light signal due to the reflection wave based on a position relationship of a plurality of the light source groups of which the light source group IDs are different from each other.

5. The optical communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the multipath removal unit removes, from the light signal received by the reception unit, the light signal due to the reflection wave based on propagation distances of a plurality of the light source groups.

6. The optical communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the multipath removal unit removes, from the light signal received by the reception unit, the light signal due to the reflection wave based on areas of images obtained by capturing a plurality of the light source groups.

7. The optical communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the multipath removal unit removes, from the light signal received by the reception unit, the light signal due to the reflection wave based on luminance of a plurality of the light source groups.

8. An optical communication system having an transmission apparatus and an optical communication apparatus, wherein

the transmission apparatus transmits a light signal including predetermined information, which is a light source group ID that identifies a light source group formed of a plurality of light signals transmitted by the transmission apparatus, a light source group position that indicates a position of the light source group, and a light source element position that indicates a position of a light source element forming the light source group and is hierarchized, and wherein

the optical communication apparatus comprises:

a reception unit that receives, from the transmission apparatus which transmits the light signal including the predetermined information, the transmitted light signal;

a multipath removal unit that recognizes, when detecting a plurality of images having the same optical information in the received light signal, a light signal due to a reflection wave based on at least one of a luminance of the light signal, a size of an image corresponding to the light signal when receiving at the reception unit, and a propagation distance of the light signal and removes the light signal due to the reflection wave; and

an control unit that acquires, from the light signal received by the reception unit, information based on the light signal obtained by removing the light signal due to the reflection wave by the multipath removal unit.

9. An optical communication method, comprising:

(a) by way of a reception unit, receiving, from a transmission apparatus which transmits a light signal including predetermined information, the transmitted light signal;

(b) by way of a multipath removal unit, recognizing, when detecting a plurality of images having the same optical information in the light signal received in (a), a light signal due to a reflection wave based on at least one of a luminance of the light signal, a size of an image corresponding to the optical signal when receiving at the reception unit, and a propagation distance of the light signal and removing the light signal due to the reflection wave; and

(c) by way of an control unit, acquiring, from the light signal received in (a), information based on the light signal obtained by removing the light signal due to the reflection wave by the multipath removal unit.