Car-mounted equipment

• US 6,233,519 B1
• Filed: 08/03/1999
• Issued: 05/15/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamada, Toyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Beaulieu, Yonel
• Application Number:
  US09/365,785
• Time in Patent Office: 651 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/207, 701/211, 701/213, 340/988, 340/990, 340/995, 342/42, 342/46
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G

Abstract

A car-mounted equipment in which an ETC car-mounted unit and a navigation system work integrally together to share the data, making it possible to diversify the functions, to enhance the precision and to improve the reliability. The car-mounted equipment has an ETC car-mounted unit 11 which executes transmission and reception to and from an ETC on-the-road equipment to at least recognize that the vehicle is approaching or passing through a toll gate, a navigation system 12 which receives electromagnetic waves from a satellite to recognize the absolute position of the vehicle and informs the driver of at least the position of the vehicle by displaying data or by producing voice data, and a data bus 14 which connects the ETC car-mounted unit and the navigation system together so that they work integrally together, wherein the ETC car-mounted unit and the navigation system transmit and receive data to and from each other through the data bus.

Claims

1. A car-mounted equipment comprising:

an ETC car-mounted unit which executes transmission and reception to and from an ETC on-the-road equipment to at least recognize that a vehicle is approaching or passing through a toll gate;

a navigation system which receives electromagnetic waves from a satellite to recognize the absolute position of said vehicle and communicates to a driver at least the position of said vehicle by displaying data or by producing voice data; and

a data bus which connects said ETC car-mounted unit and said navigation system together so that said ETC car mounted unit and said navigation system work integrally together to share data;

wherein said ETC car-mounted unit sends data to and receives data from said navigation system, and said navigation system sends data to and receives data from said ETC car-mounted unit through said data bus so as to participate in two-way data communication.

2. A car-mounted equipment according to claim 1, wherein said ETC car-mounted unit executes communication with said ETC on-the-road equipment when said vehicle passes through said toll gate and transfers a result of communication to said navigation system, and said navigation system determines whether said vehicle is now traveling on a toll road or on a common road based upon said result of communication and informs said driver of this fact.

3. A car-mounted equipment according to claim 1, wherein said ETC car-mounted unit transfers the content instructed by said ETC on-the-road equipment to said navigation system, and said navigation system informs said instructed content.

4. A car-mounted equipment according to claim 1, wherein said navigation system has at least either a touch panel or a voice recognition means as an input unit and transfers the data input from said input unit to said ETC car-mounted unit, and said ETC car-mounted unit receives the data and instruction through the input unit of said navigation system.

5. A car-mounted equipment according to claim 1, wherein said navigation system determines that said vehicle is traveling near said toll gate based upon the data related to the position of said vehicle and transfers this fact as toll gate-approaching data to said ETC car-mounted unit, and said ETC car-mounted unit is driven in response to the toll gate-approaching data from said navigation system.

6. A car-mounted equipment according to claim 5, wherein:

said ETC car-mounted unit transfers the entrance toll gate passage data of the entrance toll gate that is passed through already and the present balance data to said navigation system in response to said toll gate-approaching data; and

said navigation system has a toll table comprising a matrix for the exit toll gates and the entrance toll gates as a data base related to a plurality of toll gates, and, when said toll gate-approaching data indicates that an exit toll gate is approaching, calculates the toll due at said exit toll gate and a balance after the adjustment based on said entrance toll gate passage data, said toll table corresponding to said exit toll gate and said balance data.

7. A car-mounted equipment according to claim 6, wherein said navigation system has a lane constitution comprising general lanes and ETC lanes on where the ETC on-the-road equipment is installed at every toll gate as a data base related to said plurality of toll gates, produces information to guide said vehicle to a general lane at said exit toll gate when the balance after the adjustment at said exit toll gate indicates a deficit, and produces information to guide said vehicle to an ETC lane at said exit toll gate when the balance after the adjustment at said exit toll gate indicates a surplus balance.

8. A car-mounted equipment according to claim 6, wherein:

said ETC car-mounted unit executes communication with the ETC on-the-road equipment at said exit toll gate and receives a lane constitution comprising general lanes and ETC lanes on where the ETC on-the-road equipment is installed at said exit toll gate, and transmits the lane constitution at said exit toll gate to said navigation system; and

said navigation system produces information to guide said vehicle to a general lane at said exit toll gate when the balance after the adjustment at said exit toll gate indicates a deficit, and produces information to guide said vehicle to an ETC lane at said exit toll gate when the balance after the adjustment at said exit toll gate indicates a surplus balance.

9. A car-mounted equipment according to claim 1, wherein:

said ETC car-mounted unit transmits the toll gate passage data to said navigation system when it is determined through the communication with the ETC on-the-road equipment that the vehicle has passed through a toll gate; and

said navigation system stores the names of the toll gates as a data base related to said plurality of toll gates, and informs the name of said toll gate by mapping based upon said toll gate passage data and said data base.