Vehicle position transmission system, vehicle, and vehicle position transmission program

• US 8,386,176 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2009
• Issued: 02/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Asahara, Nobuaki
• Primary Examiner(s): BEHNCKE, CHRISTINE M
• Application Number:
  US12/867,966
• Publication Number:
  US 20110015820A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,509 Days
• Field of Search: 701/2, 701/36, 701/200, 701/207, 701/213, 701/517, 701/519, 701/521, 701/484, 701/468, 455/574, 455/456.1, 340/426.19, 340/438, 340/989, 340/426.1, 340/428, 713/300, 713/320, 713/323, 713/324
• US Class Current: 701/517
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/03 for supply of electrical power to vehicle subsystems or for circuit arrangements for charging batteries H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/01 Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled G08G1/07 - G08G1/14 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/92 Energy efficient charging or discharging systems for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors specially adapted for vehicles

Abstract

A system and the like capable of reporting a position of a vehicle to outside at an appropriate frequency, while saving communication cost is provided. According to a vehicle position transmission system 10 of the present invention, after an IGN switch 101 of a vehicle 1 is switched from ON to OFF, the vehicle position transmission system 10 is transited from an operating state to a stand-by state. Then, in the case where a transition requirement of the vehicle position transmission system 10 to a sleeping state is satisfied, a wireless communication equipment 14 transmits a position signal to a vehicle management center 2, and thereafter a vehicle position transmission system 10 is transited to the sleeping state.

Claims

1. A vehicle position transmission system mounted on a vehicle, comprising:

a wireless communication equipment;

a position measuring unit which measures a position of the vehicle; and

a state controlling unit which controls the vehicle position transmission system from an operating state to a stand-by state upon detecting at least one condition indicating that an ignition switch or an accessory switch of the vehicle is switched from ON to OFF, and transmits a position signal from the wireless communication equipment to an outside equipment using a last opportunity before transiting the vehicle position transmission system to a sleeping state from the stand-by state upon detecting the at least one condition without receiving a request for the position signal from the outside equipment;

wherein the operating state is a state in which the wireless communication equipment and other equipment group mounted on the vehicle other than the wireless communication equipment is capable of being controlled,

the stand-by state is a state in which the wireless communication equipment is capable of communicating with the outside equipment but on the other hand the operation of the other equipment group is incapable of being controlled, and the supplied power to the vehicle position transmission system is lower than the supplied power thereto in the operating state, and is a state in which the vehicle position transmission system returns back to after temporarily transiting to the operating state in the case where the wireless communication equipment receives a request signal from the outside equipment, and

the sleeping state is a state in which the wireless communication equipment is incapable of communicating with the outside equipment and also the operation of the other equipment group is incapable of being controlled, and the supplied power to the vehicle position transmission system is lower than the supplied power thereto in the stand-by state, and is a state in which the vehicle position transmission system is transited therefrom to the operating state in the case where the ignition switch or the accessory switch is switched from OFF to ON.

2. The vehicle position transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the state controlling unit recognizes a power supply ability of a power source which supplies power to the vehicle position transmission system, and sets the transition requirement of the vehicle position transmission system to the sleeping state on the basis of the power supply ability of the power source.

3. A vehicle position transmission system mounted on a vehicle, comprising:

a wireless communication equipment;

a position measuring unit which measures a position of the vehicle; and

a state controlling unit which controls the vehicle position transmission system from an operating state to a stand-by state upon detecting at least one condition indicating that an ignition switch or an accessory switch of the vehicle is switched from ON to OFF, and transmits a position signal from the wireless communication equipment to an outside equipment using a last opportunity before transiting the vehicle position transmission system to a sleeping state from the stand-by state upon detecting the at least one condition without receiving a request for the position signal from the outside equipment;

wherein the operating state is a state in which the wireless communication equipment and other equipment group mounted on the vehicle other than the wireless communication equipment is capable of being controlled,

the stand-by state is a state in which the wireless communication equipment is capable of communicating with the outside equipment but on the other hand the operation of the other equipment group is incapable of being controlled, and the supplied power to the vehicle position transmission system is lower than the supplied power thereto in the operating state, and is a state in which the vehicle position transmission system returns back to after temporarily transiting to the operating state in the case where the wireless communication equipment receives a request signal from the outside equipment,

the sleeping state is a state in which the wireless communication equipment is incapable of communicating with the outside equipment and also the operation of the other equipment group is incapable of being controlled, and the supplied power to the vehicle position transmission system is lower than the supplied power thereto in the stand-by state, and is a state in which the vehicle position transmission system is transited therefrom to the operating state in the case where the ignition switch or the accessory switch is switched from OFF to ON, and

the last opportunity indicates a communication frequency used between the wireless communication equipment and the outside equipment has reached a point immediately prior to the wireless communication equipment becoming incapable of communicating with the outside equipment.