Radio communication system between a vehicle and a roadside station

• US 5,983,075 A
• Filed: 04/08/1997
• Issued: 11/09/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Akutsu, Eisaku
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisenzopf, Reinhard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kincaid, Lester G.
• Application Number:
  US08/835,531
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• Field of Search: 455/14, 455/41, 455/523, 455/422, 455/7, 455/8, 455/11.1, 455/12.1, 455/18, 455/502, 455/503, 340/941, 340/933, 340/905, 343/842, 343/844, 246/5, 246/8, 246/34 A, 246/122 R, 246/187 B
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/26 using coils

Abstract

A radio communication system between a mobile station on a vehicle and a stationary station in which a uniform field intensity is obtained in a direction of a width of a road so that a good communication can be performed irrespective of a position of the vehicle on the road. A mobile station is provided on the vehicle. A stationary station communicating with the mobile station includes at least one pair of antennas located with the road therebetween so that the antennas generate an electric field having a substantially uniform intensity in a direction of a width of the road.

Claims

1. A radio communication system for a vehicle traveling on a road, comprising:

a mobile station provided on said vehicle; and

a stationary station communicating with said mobile station, said stationary station including at least one pair of antennas located with said road therebetween, each antenna of said pair comprising an elongated loop antenna extending along a longitudinal direction of said road such that a flat plane formed by a loop of one of said antennas faces a flat plane formed by a loop of the other one of said antennas;

wherein said pair of antennas generate an electric field having a substantially uniform intensity along the length of the elongated loop antenna and across the width of said road and each antenna of said pair contains an identical transmission signal having identical phase information.

2. A radio communication system for a vehicle traveling on a road, comprising:

a mobile station provided on said vehicle; and

a stationary station communicating with said mobile station, said stationary station including a plurality of antenna pairs, each antenna of said plurality of antenna pairs being located with said road therebetween, each antenna pair consecutively arranged along a longitudinal direction of said road and having carrier waves with phases that differ from carrier wave phases of adjacent antenna pairs;

wherein said plurality of antenna pairs generates an electric field having a substantially uniform intensity along the length of said consecutively arranged antennas and across the width of said road.

3. The radio communication system of claim 2, wherein each antenna pair contains carrier wave phases that are reversed from the carrier wave phases of adjacent antenna pairs.

4. The radio communication system of claim 2, wherein said stationary station includes a plurality of transmission/reception units, each of said transmission/reception units being connected to, and generating a carrier provided to, a corresponding one of said antenna pairs, and said stationary station further includes a signal source generating a synchronization signal and a signal line transmitting the synchronization signal to each of said transmission/reception units.

5. The radio communication system of claim 4 wherein said signal line includes a first signal line transmitting the synchronization signal having a normal phase and a second signal line transmitting the synchronization signal having a reversed phase.

6. The radio communication system of claim 4, wherein said signal line includes a first phase adjusting unit for adjusting a phase of said synchronization signal provided to each of said transmission/reception units.

7. The radio communication system of claim 6, wherein said first phase adjusting unit comprises a plurality of delay lines, each of which is provided for a corresponding one of said transmission/reception units, each of said delay lines adjusting a length of a portion of said signal lines.

8. The radio communication system of claim 4, wherein said signal line includes a plurality of branch lines, each of which is connected to a corresponding one of said transmission/reception units, and each of said branching lines includes a second phase adjusting unit for adjusting a phase of said synchronization signal transmitted to the corresponding one of said transmission/reception units.

9. The radio communication system of claim 8, wherein said second phase adjusting unit comprises a delay line which adjusts a length of the corresponding one of said branch lines.

10. The radio communication system of claim 4, wherein a frequency of said synchronization signal is set lower than a frequency of the carrier wave generated by each of said transmission/reception units.

11. The radio communication system of claim 10, wherein a frequency of said synchronization signal is determined based on a frequency of the carrier wave and a length of a portion of said signal line between adjacent transmission/reception units.

12. The radio communication system of claim 3, wherein said stationary station includes a plurality of monitoring units, each of which is connected to a corresponding one of said antenna pairs, each of said monitoring units detecting a transmission signal transmitted by an adjacent antenna pair.

13. A radio communication system for a vehicle traveling on a road, comprising:

a mobile station provided on said vehicle; and

a stationary station communicating with said mobile station, said stationary station including at least one pair of antennas located with said road therebetween, each antenna of said pair comprising an array antenna containing a plurality of loop antennas arranged along a longitudinal direction of said road;

wherein said pair of antennas generate an electric field having a substantially uniform intensity along the length of said array antenna and across the width of said road and each antenna of said pair contains an identical transmission signal having identical phase information.