Information-collecting device, information-collection method, and program-recording medium

• US 9,959,766 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2015
• Issued: 05/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Ichihara, Etsuko, Fujiyama, Kenichiro, Kida, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): McNally, Kerri
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, THANG DUC
• Application Number:
  US15/129,554
• Publication Number:
  US 20170116861A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,140 Days
• Field of Search: 340903
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/164 Centralised systems, e.g. external to vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]

Abstract

Information regarding moving bodies (00) that are in danger of colliding is collected at an appropriate frequency in accordance with the degree of danger. This information-collecting device has a risk calculation unit and a transmission-interval determination unit. The risk calculation unit receives, from a plurality of moving bodies, state information that includes locations and velocities and is transmitted at provided time intervals. The risk calculation unit also computes the distance between and relative velocities of two moving bodies. The transmission-interval determination unit computes an interval such that the higher the relative velocities of two moving bodies are relative to the distance therebetween, the shorter the interval is, and provides the computed interval to the moving bodies.

Claims

1. An information-collecting device comprising:

memory storing program instructions; and

at least one processor to execute the instructions to;

receive state information including a position and a speed from a plurality of moving bodies that transmit the state information at a notified time interval, and calculate a distance and a relative speed between two moving bodies;

calculate an interval that is shortened depending on the relative speed with respect to the distance; and

for each respective moving body of the plurality of moving bodies;

acquire an available communication band of a base station being used by the respective moving body, calculate a lower interval limit by dividing a product of a size of the state information and a number of moving bodies that are using the base station being used by the respective moving body by the available communication band of the base station being used by the respective moving body, and when the calculated interval is lower than the lower interval limit, send the lower interval limit to the respective moving body in place of the calculated interval.

2. The information-collecting device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is to execute the instructions to determine a route and a traveling direction in which a moving body moves from a temporal change of the position included in the state information, extract two moving bodies that travel in the same direction in the same route, and calculate the distance and the relative speed between the extracted two moving bodies.

3. The information-collecting device according to claim 2, wherein an identifier and section numbers that continuously increase or decrease from a starting point to an ending point are assigned to the route, the position included in the state information includes a route identifier and a section number received from each of a plurality of position-displaying devices that are placed along the route at regular intervals and transmit the identifier of the route and the section numbers, and the at least one processor is to execute the instructions to determine the route from the route identifier included in the state information, and determine the traveling direction in which a moving body moves from a temporal change of the section number.

4. An information-collecting system comprising:

the information-collecting device according to claim 1; and

a moving body that receives from the information-collecting device and stores a time interval, and transmits the state information at the stored time interval.

5. An information-collecting method comprising:

receiving state information including a position and a speed from a plurality of moving bodies that transmit the state information at a notified time interval, and calculating a distance and a relative speed between two moving bodies;

calculating an interval that is shortened depending on the relative speed with respect to the distance; and

for each respective moving body of the plurality of moving bodies;

acquiring an available communication band of a base station being used by the respective moving body;

calculating a lower interval limit by dividing a product of a size of the state information and a number of moving bodies that are using the base station being used by the respective moving body by the available communication band of the base station being used by the respective moving body, and when the calculated interval is lower than the lower interval limit, sending the lower interval limit to the respective moving body in place of the calculated interval.

6. The information-collecting method according to claim 5, comprising:

determining a route and a traveling direction in which a moving body moves from a temporal change of the position included in the state information, extracting two moving bodies that travel in the same direction in the same route, and calculating the distance and the relative speed between the extracted two moving bodies.

7. The information-collecting method according to claim 6, wherein an identifier and section numbers that continuously increase or decrease from a starting point to an ending point are assigned to the route, the position included in the state information includes a route identifier and a section number received from each of a plurality of position-displaying devices that are placed along the route at regular intervals and transmit the identifier of the route and the section numbers, and the method further comprising determining the route from the route identifier included in the state information, and determining the traveling direction in which a moving body moves from a temporal change of the section number.

8. A non-transitory recording medium recording thereon a program that causes a computer to:

receive state information including a position and a speed from a plurality of moving bodies that transmit the state information at a notified time interval, and calculate a distance and a relative speed between two moving bodies;

calculate an interval that is shortened depending on the relative speed with respect to the distance; and

for each respective moving body of the plurality of moving bodies;

acquire an available communication band of a base station being used by the respective moving body, calculate a lower interval limit by dividing a product of a size of the state information and a number of moving bodies that are using the base station being used by the respective moving body by the available communication band of the base station being used by the respective moving body, and when the calculated interval is lower than the lower interval limit, send the lower interval limit to the respective moving body in place of the calculated interval.