Communication region defining method, toll collection system, and program

• US 10,269,186 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2015
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machinery Systems, Ltd. (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machinery Systems, Ltd. (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ieuji, Saku, Nakayama, Hiroyuki, Maeda, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Tun, Nay
• Application Number:
  US15/779,670
• Publication Number:
  US 20180342112A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,240 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/00 Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points handling coins or valuable papers, e.g. banknotes, G07D; apparatus for vending or hiring articles or services activated by coins, credit cards, paper currency or the like G07F7/00, G07F17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/02 taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems G07B15/06 takes precedence; taximeters G07B13/00; parking meters per se G07F17/24; car rental systems per se G07B15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination

Abstract

A communication region defining method is a method for defining a defined communication region in operation of a toll collection system having only an on-board unit present within the defined communication region as a communication target for toll collection and includes: a transmitter arrangement step of arranging reference transmitters capable of transmitting radio waves at a plurality of positions on a boundary line of a defined communication region; a position location step of locating a position of each of the plurality of reference transmitters on the basis of a position location signal obtained by receiving, through predetermined position location antennas, radio waves transmitted by the plurality of reference transmitters; and a determination condition setting step of setting conditions for determining whether to set an on-board unit as a communication target for toll collection on the basis of position location results with respect to the plurality of reference transmitters.

Claims

1. A method of defining a predetermined defined communication region in operation of a toll collection system having an on-board unit present within the predetermined defined communication region as a communication target for toll collection, the method comprising:

a transmitter arrangement step of arranging reference transmitters capable of transmitting radio waves at a plurality of positions on a boundary line of the defined communication region to be defined;

a position location step of locating a position of each of the plurality of reference transmitters on the basis of position location signals obtained by receiving, through predetermined position location antennas, radio waves transmitted by the plurality of reference transmitters; and

a determination condition setting step of setting conditions for determining whether to set the on-board unit as the communication target for toll collection on the basis of position location results with respect to the plurality of reference transmitters.

2. The method of defining a defined communication region according to claim 1, wherein, in the determination condition setting step, reference identifiers for identifying the plurality of reference transmitters are read, and determination conditions are set with reference to reference identifier information representing a correlation between each reference identifier and the boundary line of the defined communication region formed by connecting pairs of the positions of the reference transmitters represented by the reference identifiers.

3. The method of defining a defined communication region according to claim 1, wherein the reference transmitters are configured to transmit the radio waves in accordance with a communication standard for the on-board unit to perform the communication for toll collection.

4. A toll collection system having an on-board unit present within a predetermined defined communication region as a communication target for toll collection, the toll collection system comprising:

position location antennas used to locate a position of a target transmitting radio waves;

reference transmitters capable of transmitting radio waves, the reference transmitters being arranged at a plurality of positions on a boundary line of the defined communication region;

a position location unit which is configured to locate a position of each of the plurality of reference transmitters on the basis of position location signals obtained by receiving, through the position location antennas, radio waves transmitted by the plurality of reference transmitters; and

a determination condition setting unit which is configured to set conditions for determining whether to set the on-board unit as the communication target for toll collection on the basis of position location results with respect to the plurality of reference transmitters.

5. The toll collection system according to claim 4, wherein the determination condition setting unit is configured to read reference identifiers for identifying the plurality of reference transmitters and set determination conditions with reference to reference identifier information representing a correlation between each reference identifier and the boundary line of the defined communication region formed by connecting pairs of the positions of the reference transmitters represented by the reference identifiers.

6. The toll collection system according to claim 4, wherein the reference transmitters are configured to transmit the radio waves in accordance with a communication standard for the on-board unit to perform the communication for toll collection.

7. The toll collection system according to claim 4, further comprising an abnormality detection unit which detects occurrence of an abnormality in processes until the position location results are obtained on the basis of the position location results with respect to the reference transmitters.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium, which records a program causing a computer of a toll collection system comprising position location antennas used to locate a position of a target transmitting radio waves and reference transmitters capable of transmitting radio waves and arranged at a plurality of positions on a boundary of a predetermined defined communication region, and having an on-board unit present within the defined communication region as a communication target for toll collection to serve as:

a position location unit which is configured to locate the position of each of the plurality of reference transmitters on the basis of position location signals obtained by receiving, through the position location antenna, radio waves transmitted by the plurality of reference transmitters; and

a determination condition setting unit which is configured to set conditions for determining whether to set the on-board unit as the communication target for toll collection on the basis of position location results with respect to the plurality of reference transmitters.