Optical communication equipment and vehicle control method

• US 20050137782A1
• Filed: 12/07/2004
• Published: 06/23/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Shinada, Akira
• Granted Patent: US 7,383,121 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0965 responding to signals from another vehicle, e.g. emergency vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096725 where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/1125 using a single common optical path

Abstract

The present invention relates to optical communication equipment and a vehicle control method, and in particular, the present invention is applied to a system utilizing inter-vehicle communication equipment via optical communication to notify information of traffic regulation utilizing optical communication according to an inter-vehicle communication system so that traveling of a vehicle can be controlled easily and reliably even in such a complicated place where a plurality of roads intersect as in urban cities or the like.

Claims

1. Optical communication equipment for controlling traveling of a vehicle in which inter-vehicle communication equipment for transmitting/receiving various information to and from similar equipment installed in other vehicles via optical communication is installed, by notifying information of traffic regulation to the vehicle, wherein said information of traffic regulation is transmitted via the optical communication so as to be receivable by said inter-vehicle communication equipment.

2. The optical communication equipment according to claim 1, wherein said optical communication equipment is installed in a road sign.

3. Optical communication equipment installed in a vehicle, comprising:

a light emitter for transmitting a communication light used in optical communication;

an encoder for operating said light emitter;

a light receiver for receiving said communication light from similar equipment installed in other vehicles;

a decoder for decoding a light reception result in said light receiver; and

a controller for processing a decoding result by said decoder and controlling operation of said encoder, wherein;

said controller controls said encoder in response to an operation by a user to transmit a desired message via said optical communication, notifies the user of the decoding result in a case where the decoding result by said decoder is the one from said similar equipment installed in other vehicles via optical communication, and controls the vehicle in accordance with the decoding result in a case where the decoding result by said decoder is related to information of traffic regulation.

4. The optical communication equipment according to claim 3, wherein said controller notifies the user of the information of said traffic regulation and, in a case where a condition defined by said traffic regulation changes, notifies the user of contents of the change.

5. A vehicle control method for controlling traveling of a vehicle in which inter-vehicle communication equipment for transmitting/receiving various information to and from similar equipment installed in other vehicles via optical communication is installed, by notifying information of traffic regulation to the vehicle, wherein said information of traffic regulation is transmitted via the optical communication so as to be receivable by said inter-vehicle communication equipment.

6. The vehicle control method according to claim 5, wherein said information of traffic regulation is transmitted from a road sign.