Onboard-equipment control apparatus and onboard-equipment control system

• US 20050234604A1
• Filed: 04/19/2005
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Nakamura, Kazuo, Tauchi, Nobutaka
• Granted Patent: US 7,680,572 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/2
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0231 Circuits relating to the driving or the functioning of the vehicle monitoring tyres B60C23/00; indicating overspeed B60K31/00; for dash boards B60K37/00, B60Q3/10; for indicating emergencies B60Q1/52; brake control systems B60T; registering or indicating the working of vehicles G07C5/00; measuring distance G01C, e.g. combinations of speed and distance G01C23/00; engine indicators G01L; measuring speed or acceleration G01P

Abstract

An onboard-equipment control apparatus controls activation of an onboard apparatus such as an air conditioner and termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus in order to prevent an onboard battery from running out of residual electric charge in advance. Upon detection of a state in which an onboard radio apparatus is not capable of receiving a termination command from a cellular phone or the cellular phone is not capable of transmitting a termination command to the onboard radio apparatus while the air conditioner is in operation, the onboard-equipment control apparatus forcibly terminates the operation of the air conditioner even before a termination condition is satisfied. Thus, the onboard battery can be prevented in advance from running out of accumulated electric charge required for operating the activated air conditioner thereafter.

Claims

1. An onboard-equipment control apparatus comprising:

a radio communication means for receiving a command to terminate the operation of an onboard apparatus activated by using power supplied by an onboard battery as operation-driving power from a remote control apparatus transmitting the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus by way of a radio communication network; and

a control means, which takes at least reception of the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus by the radio communication means from the remote control apparatus as one of conditions for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus and terminates the operation of the onboard apparatus when any of the conditions for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied while the onboard apparatus is in operation,

wherein, upon detection of the fact that the radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus or the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means while the onboard apparatus is in operation, the control means executes control to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus even before the condition for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied.

3. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the control means determines that the radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus when the number of events detected per time unit as events in each of which the level of a reception electrical field at the radio communication means is lower than a predetermined level reaches a predetermined event count.

4. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the control means determines that the radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus when an instance in which the level of a reception electrical field at the radio communication means is lower than a predetermined level has been continuing for a predetermined period of time.

5. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the control means determines that the radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus when a failure of the radio communication means is detected.

6. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the control means determines that the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means when the number of events detected per time unit as events in each of which the level of a reception electrical field at the remote control apparatus is lower than a predetermined level reaches a predetermined event count.

7. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the control means determines that the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means when an instance in which the level of a reception electrical field at the remote control apparatus is lower than a predetermined level has been continuing for a predetermined period of time.

8. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a battery residual charge inference means for inferring the amount of residual electric charge left in the onboard battery; and

a power-consumption inference means for inferring a power consumption representing the amount of power, which is consumed by the onboard apparatus on the assumption that the operation of the onboard apparatus is terminated when a condition for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied,

wherein said control means executes control to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus even before the condition for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied when a difference between a residual electric charge amount inferred by the battery residual electric charge inference means as the amount of residual electric charge left in the onboard battery and the power consumption inferred by the power-consumption inference means is found not greater than a predetermined value, while the onboard apparatus is in operation.

9. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein the control means executes control to transmit a termination notification signal from the radio communication means to the remote control apparatus by way of a radio communication network after terminating the operation of the onboard apparatus as a signal informing the remote control apparatus that the operation of the onboard apparatus has been terminated.

16. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein, after the control means executes control to stop the operation of the onboard apparatus upon detection of the fact that the radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus, the control means executes control to resume the operation of the stopped onboard apparatus upon detection of a recovery of the radio communication means from a state of being incapable of receiving a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus to a state of being again capable of receiving a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus.

17. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein, after the control means executes control to stop the operation of the onboard apparatus upon detection of the fact that the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means, the control means executes control to resume the operation of the stopped onboard apparatus upon detection of a recovery of the remote control apparatus from a state of being incapable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means to a state of being again capable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means.

18. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 16,

wherein the control means executes control to reactivate the stopped onboard apparatus when a predetermined condition is satisfied.

19. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 16,

wherein, after execution of control to resume the operation of the stopped onboard apparatus, the control means executes control to transmit a resumption notification signal to the remote control apparatus from the radio communication means by way of a radio communication network as a signal informing the remote control apparatus that the operation of the stopped onboard apparatus has been resumed.

2. An onboard-equipment control apparatus comprising:

a radio communication means for receiving a command to terminate the operation of an onboard apparatus activated by using power supplied by an onboard battery as operation-driving power from a remote control apparatus transmitting the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus by way of a radio communication network; and

a control means, which is capable of activating the onboard apparatus when a condition for activation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied and takes at least reception of the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus by the radio communication means from the remote control apparatus as one of conditions for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus, terminates the operation of the onboard apparatus when any of the conditions for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied while the onboard apparatus is in operation,

wherein, upon detection of the fact that a radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus or the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means, the control means executes control to inhibit activation of the onboard apparatus even after the condition for activation of the onboard apparatus has been satisfied.

10. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a battery residual charge inference means for inferring the amount of residual electric charge left in the onboard battery; and

a power-consumption inference means for inferring a power consumption representing the amount of power, which is consumed by the onboard apparatus on the assumption that the operation of the onboard apparatus is terminated when a condition for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied,

wherein said control means executes control to inhibit activation of the onboard apparatus even after a condition for activation of the onboard apparatus has been satisfied when a difference between a residual electric charge amount inferred by the battery residual electric charge inference means as the amount of residual electric charge left in the onboard battery and the power consumption inferred by the power-consumption inference means is found not greater than a predetermined value.

11. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein, after execution of control to inhibit activation of the onboard apparatus, the control means executes control to transmit an activation-inhibition notification signal from the radio communication means to the remote control apparatus by way of a radio communication network as a signal informing the remote control apparatus that the activation of the onboard apparatus has been inhibited.

12. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the control means executes control to activate the onboard apparatus when a difference between a residual electric charge amount inferred by the battery residual electric charge inference means as the amount of residual electric charge left in the onboard battery and a power consumption inferred by the power-consumption inference means is found at least equal to the predetermined value after a condition for activation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied.

13. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the control means compares the present position of a vehicle with map data in order to determine whether or not the vehicle is located in an area with a poor environment for electric waves and, when the vehicle is located in an area with a poor environment for electric waves, the control means executes control to inhibit activation of the onboard apparatus even after a condition for activation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied.

14. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 13,

wherein the control means compares position information received from a navigation apparatus as the present position of the vehicle with map data used in the navigation apparatus in order to determine whether or not the vehicle is located in an area with a poor environment for electric waves.

15. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 13,

wherein the control means compares position information received from the navigation apparatus as the present position of the vehicle with map data supplied from a map-data distribution apparatus by way of a radio communication network in order to determine whether or not the vehicle is located in an area with a poor environment for electric waves.

20. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein, after the control means executes control to inhibit activation of the pre-activation onboard apparatus upon detection of the fact that the radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus, the control means executes control to terminate the inhibited-activation state of the pre-activation onboard apparatus upon detection of a recovery of the radio communication means from a state of being incapable of receiving a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus to a state of being again capable of receiving a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus.

21. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein, after the control means executes control to inhibit activation of the pre-activation onboard apparatus upon detection of the fact that the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means, the control means executes control to terminate the inhibited-activation state of the pre-activation onboard apparatus upon detection of a recovery of the remote control apparatus from a state of being incapable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means to a state of being again capable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means.

22. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 20,

wherein the control means executes control to terminate an inhibited-activation state of the pre-activation onboard apparatus when a predetermined condition is satisfied.

23. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 20,

wherein, after execution of control to terminate an inhibited-activation state of the pre-activation onboard apparatus, the control means executes control to transmit an activation-inhibition termination notification signal to the remote control apparatus from the radio communication means by way of a radio communication network as a signal informing the remote control apparatus that the inhibited-activation state of the pre-activation onboard apparatus has been ended.

26. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the control means determines that the radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus when the number of events detected per time unit as events in each of which the level of a reception electrical field at the radio communication means is lower than a predetermined level reaches a predetermined event count.

27. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the control means determines that the radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus when an instance in which the level of a reception electrical field at the radio communication means is lower than a predetermined level has been continuing for a predetermined period of time.

28. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the control means determines that the radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus when a failure of the radio communication means is detected.

29. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the control means determines that the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means when the number of events detected per time unit as events in each of which the level of a reception electrical field at the remote control apparatus is lower than a predetermined level reaches a predetermined event count.

30. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the control means determines that the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting the command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means when an instance in which the level of a reception electrical field at the remote control apparatus is lower than a predetermined level has been continuing for a predetermined period of time.

31. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a battery residual charge inference means for inferring the amount of residual electric charge left in the onboard battery; and

a power-consumption inference means for inferring a power consumption representing the amount of power, which is consumed by the onboard apparatus on the assumption that the operation of the onboard apparatus is terminated when a condition for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied,

wherein said control means executes control to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus even before the condition for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied when a difference between a residual electric charge amount inferred by the battery residual electric charge inference means as the amount of residual electric charge left in the onboard battery and the power consumption inferred by the power-consumption inference means is found not greater than a predetermined value, while the onboard apparatus is in operation.

32. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein, after the control means executes control to stop the operation of the onboard apparatus upon detection of the fact that the radio communication means is no longer capable of receiving a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus, the control means executes control to resume the operation of the stopped onboard apparatus upon detection of a recovery of the radio communication means from a state of being incapable of receiving a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus to a state of being again capable of receiving a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus from the remote control apparatus.

33. An onboard-equipment control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein, after the control means executes control to stop the operation of the onboard apparatus upon detection of the fact that the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means, the control means executes control to resume the operation of the stopped onboard apparatus upon detection of a recovery of the remote control apparatus from a state of being incapable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means to a state of being again capable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the radio communication means.

24. An onboard-equipment control system comprising:

a center apparatus; and

an onboard-equipment control apparatus, which takes at least reception of a command by a radio communication means from a remote control apparatus as a command to terminate the operation of an onboard apparatus activated by using power supplied by an onboard battery as operation-driving power as one of conditions for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus and terminates the operation of the onboard apparatus when any of the conditions for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied while the onboard apparatus is in operation,

wherein, upon detection of the fact that the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the onboard-equipment control apparatus while the onboard apparatus is in operation, the center apparatus transmits a command to forcibly terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the onboard-equipment control apparatus and,

upon detection of the fact that the command to forcibly terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus has been received from the center apparatus, the onboard-equipment control apparatus terminates the operation of the onboard apparatus even before the condition for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied.

25. An onboard-equipment control system comprising:

a center apparatus; and

an onboard-equipment control apparatus, which is capable of activating an onboard apparatus when a condition for activation of an onboard apparatus activated by using power supplied by an onboard battery as operation-driving power is satisfied and takes at least reception of a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus by a radio communication means from a remote control apparatus as one of conditions for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus, terminates the operation of the onboard apparatus when any of the conditions for termination of the operation of the onboard apparatus is satisfied while the onboard apparatus is in operation,

wherein, upon detection of the fact that the remote control apparatus is no longer capable of transmitting a command to terminate the operation of the onboard apparatus to the onboard-equipment control apparatus while the onboard apparatus is in operation, the center apparatus transmits a forcible activation inhibition command to the onboard-equipment control apparatus and,

upon detection of the fact that the forcible activation inhibition command has been received from the center apparatus, the onboard-equipment control apparatus inhibits activation of the operation of the onboard apparatus even after a condition for activation of the onboard apparatus has been satisfied.