Method and apparatus for gathering vehicle information

• US 20030191581A1
• Filed: 04/01/2003
• Published: 10/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kawamata, Yukihiro, Shioya, Makoto, Toyama, Atsuya, Yoshida, Tomiharu, Ukai, Seiji, Shibata, Toshiro
• Granted Patent: US 6,823,258 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/207
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18576 Satellite systems for providing narrowband data service to fixed or mobile stations, e.g. using a minisatellite, a microsatellite for selecting H04W

Abstract

A central vehicle-information management center gathers individual pieces of information on the state of a vehicle on a real-time manner by: acquiring and gathering pieces of information on the position of the vehicle from a reflection signal reflected by an artificial satellite as a result of reflection of a position signal transmitted by an antenna provided on the vehicle to the artificial satellite; and acquiring and gathering a signal reflected by the artificial satellite as a result of reflection of a signal used for representing information on control of the vehicle or information on conditions of vehicle parts and transmitted from the antenna to the artificial satellite or transmitted by the vehicle through a wireless-communication apparatus such as a DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) device or a cellular phone. As a result, with such a central vehicle-information management center, it is possible to provide a method and an apparatus, which can be used for gathering information on a vehicle and capable of continuously collecting detailed information on the present state of a vehicle with a high degree of reliability and in a real-time manner.

Claims

1. A vehicle-information gathering method for gathering information on a state of a vehicle, comprising:

acquiring and collecting pieces of information on a position of said vehicle from a reflection signal reflected by an artificial satellite as a result of reflection of a position signal transmitted by an antenna provided on said vehicle to said artificial satellite.

3. A vehicle-information gathering method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said information on control of said vehicle or the information on conditions of vehicle parts are transmitted after said information on a position of said vehicle has entered a reception mode.

4. A vehicle-information gathering method according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3, wherein said information on a position of said vehicle is a latitude and a longitude obtained from a navigation terminal.

5. A vehicle-information gathering method according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3, wherein said information on control of said vehicle includes a braking amount, a steering angle, an accelerator-pedal angle, a gear count, an ABS (anti-skid braking system) operating time and a VSC (Velocity Suppression Control) operating time.

6. A vehicle-information gathering method according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3, wherein said information on conditions of vehicle parts includes a lubricant temperature, a lubricant pressure, a battery voltage, a fuel-residue quantity, a CPU state and a muffler temperature.

11. A vehicle-information gathering method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein said collected individual pieces of information on said vehicle are encrypted and stored in a memory.

12. A vehicle-information gathering method, said method further including the steps of:

based on the information collected in any one of claims 1 to 11,

conducting for each car type a statistical analysis on;

information on how much an installed new function has been used; and

information on whether or not there is a vehicle-utilization characteristic such as driving times on each day, driving days in each week and commercial use for each car type, and

storing statistics in a data base.

13. A vehicle-information gathering method, said method further including the steps of:

based on the information collected in any one of claims 1 to 11,

conducting for each car type a statistical analysis on;

information on whether a temperature is normal or abnormal;

information on whether a pressure is normal or abnormal; and

information on whether or not the number of years in which each vehicle part has been used so far is reasonable, and

storing statistics in a data base.

2. A vehicle-information gathering method for gathering information on a state of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:

acquiring and gathering pieces of information on a position of said vehicle from a reflection signal reflected by an artificial satellite as a result of reflection of a position signal transmitted by an antenna provided on said vehicle to said artificial satellite; and

acquiring and gathering signals reflected by said artificial satellite as a result of reflection of information signals used for representing information on control of said vehicle or information on conditions of vehicle parts and transmitted from said antenna to said artificial satellite or transmitted by said vehicle through a wireless-communication apparatus such as a DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) device or a cellular phone, whereby individual pieces of information on a state of a vehicle are gathered in a real-time manner.

14. A vehicle-information gathering method according to claim 2, wherein said collected individual pieces of information on said vehicle are used as a basis for collecting information on said vehicle as statistics for each car type and each vehicle part.

7. A vehicle-information gathering method for gathering information on a state of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:

acquiring and gathering pieces of information on a position of said vehicle from a reflection signal reflected by an artificial satellite as a result of reflection of a position signal transmitted by an antenna provided on said vehicle to said artificial satellite;

acquiring and gathering signals reflected by said artificial satellite as a result of reflection of information signals generated by a sensor provided on said vehicle and transmitted from said antenna to said artificial satellite or acquiring and gathering said information signals generated by said sensor and transmitted by said vehicle through a wireless-communication apparatus such as a DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) device or a cellular phone, whereby individual pieces of information on a state of a vehicle are gathered in a real-time manner; and

acquiring and gathering information on said vehicle such as a car type and a vehicle number input separately for said vehicle and information on a user of said vehicle.

9. A vehicle-information gathering method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein said individual pieces of information on said vehicle are input from an IC card having said information recorded.

10. A vehicle-information gathering method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein said individual pieces of information on said vehicle are also input from an artificial satellite.

8. A vehicle-information gathering method for gathering information on a state of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:

acquiring and gathering pieces of information on a position of said vehicle from a reflection signal reflected by an artificial satellite as a result of reflection of a position signal transmitted by an antenna provided on said vehicle to said artificial satellite;

acquiring and gathering signals reflected by said artificial satellite as a result of reflection of information signals used for representing information on control of said vehicle or information on conditions of vehicle parts and transmitted from said antenna to said artificial satellite or transmitted by said vehicle through a wireless-communication apparatus such as a DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) device or a cellular phone, whereby individual pieces of information on a state of a vehicle are gathered in a real-time manner;

acquiring and gathering pieces of information on a state of said vehicle from a reflection signal-reflected by said artificial satellite as a result of reflection of an information signal of said information on a state of said vehicle transmitted by a diagnosing system provided on said vehicle to said artificial satellite; and

acquiring and gathering signals reflected by said artificial satellite as a result of reflection of information signals used for representing information on said vehicle such as a car type and a vehicle number input separately for said vehicle and information on a user of said vehicle.

15. A vehicle-information gathering apparatus for gathering information on a state of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:

a vehicle-position-information gathering means for acquiring and gathering pieces of information on a position of said vehicle from a reflection signal reflected by an artificial satellite as a result of reflection of a position signal transmitted by an antenna provided on said vehicle to said artificial satellite;

a first vehicle-state-information gathering means for acquiring and gathering pieces of first information on a state of said vehicle reflected by said artificial satellite as a result of reflection of a signal used for representing information on control of said vehicle or information on conditions of vehicle parts and transmitted from said antenna to said artificial satellite; and

a second vehicle-state-information gathering means for acquiring and gathering pieces of second information on a state of said vehicle transmitted by said vehicle through a wireless-communication apparatus such as a DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) device or a cellular phone.

16. A vehicle-information gathering apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising an IC-card-information input means for gathering information on said vehicle such as a car type and a car number and information on a user of said vehicle, which are entered separately for said vehicle, from an IC card having said vehicle information and said user information stored.

17. A vehicle-information gathering method for gathering information on a state of a vehicle, wherein said information on a state of a vehicle is collected by acquiring and gathering signals reflected by said artificial satellite as a result of reflection of information signals used for representing information on control of said vehicle or information on conditions of vehicle parts and transmitted from said antenna to said artificial satellite, whereby individual pieces of information on a state of a vehicle are gathered in a real-time manner.

18. A vehicle-information gathering method according to claim 17, wherein said information on control of said vehicle includes a braking amount, a steering angle, an accelerator-pedal angle, a gear count, an ABS (anti-skid braking system) operating time and a VSC operating time.

19. A vehicle-information gathering method according to claim 17, wherein said information on conditions of vehicle parts includes a lubricant temperature, a lubricant pressure, a battery voltage, a fuel-residue quantity, a CPU state and a muffler temperature.

20. A vehicle-information gathering method for gathering information on a state of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:

acquiring and gathering information on said vehicle such as a car type and a vehicle number input separately for said vehicle or information on a user of said vehicle first; and

then

acquiring and gathering signals reflected by an artificial satellite as a result of reflection of information signals generated by a sensor provided on said vehicle and transmitted from an antenna provided on said vehicle to said artificial, whereby individual pieces of information on a state of a vehicle are gathered in a real-time manner.

22. A vehicle-information gathering method, said method further including the steps of:

based on the information collected in claim 20 or 21,

conducting for each car type a statistical analysis on;

information on how much an installed new function has been used; and

information on whether or not there is a vehicle-utilization characteristic such as driving times on each day, driving days in each week and commercial use for each car type, and

storing statistics in a data base.

23. A vehicle-information gathering method, said method further including the steps of:

based on the information collected in claims 20 or 21,

conducting for each car type a statistical analysis on;

information on whether a temperature is normal or abnormal;

information on whether a pressure is normal or abnormal; and

information on whether or not the number of years in which each vehicle part has been used so far is reasonable, and

storing statistics in a data base.

24. A vehicle-information gathering method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein said collected individual pieces of information on said vehicle are used as a basis for collecting information on said vehicle as statistics for each car type and each vehicle part.

21. A vehicle-information gathering method for gathering information on a state of a vehicle, said method having the steps of:

acquiring and gathering signals reflected by an artificial satellite as a result of reflection of information signals used for representing information on control of said vehicle or information on conditions of vehicle parts and transmitted from an antenna provided on said vehicle to said artificial satellite; and

acquiring and gathering pieces of information on a state of said vehicle from a reflection signal reflected by said artificial satellite as a result of reflection of an signal of said information a state of said vehicle transmitted by a diagnosing system provided on said vehicle to said artificial satellite in accordance with a command to-transmit a result of a diagnosis generated by said diagnosing system.

25. A vehicle-information gathering apparatus for gathering information on a state of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:

a first vehicle-state-information gathering means for acquiring and gathering pieces of first information on a state of said vehicle reflected by an artificial satellite as a result of reflection of a signal used for representing information on control of said vehicle or information on conditions of vehicle parts and transmitted from an antenna provided on said vehicle to said artificial satellite; and

a second vehicle-state-information gathering means for acquiring and gathering pieces of second information on a state of said vehicle transmitted by said vehicle through a wireless-communication apparatus such as a DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) device or a cellular phone.

26. A vehicle-information gathering apparatus according to claim 25, further comprising an IC-card-information input means for gathering information on said vehicle such as a car type and a car number and information on a user of said vehicle, which are entered separately for said vehicle, from an IC card having the vehicle information and the user information.