COMMUNICATON DEVICE, COMMUNICATION METHOD, ROAD-TO-VEHICLE AND INTER-VEHICLE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM, PROGRAM AND RECORDING MEDICUM

• US 20110012756A1
• Filed: 03/03/2009
• Published: 01/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Takeshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,754,788 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/905
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/04 using association of physical positions and logical data in a dedicated environment, e.g. buildings or vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location

Abstract

Provided is a communication device mounted in a vehicle or disposed at the roadside, which can adaptively and efficiently manage positional information relating to directly communicable surrounding in-vehicle communication devices and surrounding roadside communication devices and can stably transmit information to a specified communication destination even when the positional relationship between vehicles frequently changes. The communication device is provided with a surrounding communication device information table for holding positional information relating to other communication devices received from the other communication devices and receipt times and a transmission destination determination unit for, when transmission destination position/area information indicating the position or area of a communication device that is a communication destination is accepted, determining a communication device with which communication is to be established on the basis of the transmission destination position/area information and the contents held in the surrounding communication device information table and making a transmission destination setting signal.

Claims

1. A communication device, which is mounted on a vehicle or installed at the roadside, and which performs inter-vehicle communication between in-vehicle communication devices mounted to vehicles, or which performs road-to-vehicle communication between an in-vehicle communication device and a road-side communication device installed at the roadside, comprising:

an in-vehicle radio section which performs radio communication with the other communication device;

a surrounding communication device information table which stores other communication device position information received from the other communication device and the reception time of the position information;

a transmission destination determining section which controls the storage content of the surrounding communication device information table, and which, when receiving transmission destination position/area information representing a position or area of a transmission destination communication device, determines, on the basis of the transmission destination position/area information and of the storage content of the surrounding communication device information table, a communication device with which communication is to be performed, and then returns the determination result as a transmission destination setting signal; and

an in-vehicle communication control section which transmits one'"'"'s own device position information at every predetermined period from the in-vehicle radio section,

which, when receiving the position information from the other communication device, stores the received position information in the surrounding communication device information table via the transmission destination determining section together with the reception time of the position information, and which when performing communication with a communication device whose position or area is designated, outputs the transmission destination position/area information to the transmission destination determining section, and performs, via the in-vehicle radio section, communication with the communication device designated by the subsequently transmitted transmission destination setting signal.

2. The communication device according to claim 1,

wherein, when determining that the position or area represented by the received transmission destination position/area information is not within the possible range of direct communication, the transmission destination determining section selects a relay communication device on the basis of the position or area represented by the transmission destination position/area information, and on the basis of the position information from the other communication device and the reception time of the position information, which are most lately set and registered in the surrounding communication device information table, and returns a transmission destination setting signal in which the selected communication device is set as a relay transmission destination.

3. The communication device according to claim 2,

wherein when selecting a relay communication device, the transmission destination determining section selects a communication device which exists in the same direction as the direction of the position or area represented by the transmission destination position/area information, and whose position information is the latest to be received.

4. The communication device according to claim 2,

wherein when selecting a relay communication device, the transmission destination determining section calculates the moving direction and the moving speed of the communication device that is the latest to be set and registered in the surrounding communication device information table, and determines, by referring to the calculated moving direction and moving speed of the communication device, whether or not it is necessary to change a communication device to be selected as the relay communication device.

5. The communication device according to claim 2,

wherein when selecting a relay communication device from communication devices which are the latest to be set and registered in the surrounding communication device information table, the transmission destination determining section excludes, from a candidate relay communication device, a communication device which is located in the direction opposite to the direction of the position or area represented by the transmission destination position/area information, and excludes a communication device which corresponds to the position information reception time prior to the time going back by a predetermined time limit from the present time, or lowers the priority of the communication devices as the candidate relay communication device.

6. The communication device according to claim 2,

wherein when selecting a relay communication device from communication devices which are the latest to be set and registered in the surrounding communication device information table, the transmission destination determining section sets the communication device arranged at the roadside to have a higher priority for the relay communication device than the in-vehicle communication device.

7. The communication device according to claim 1,

wherein the in-vehicle radio section performs, using a same radio communication channel, communication to transmit one'"'"'s own device position information at every predetermined period and communication with the communication device designated by the transmission destination setting signal.

8. The communication device according to claim 1,

wherein the in-vehicle radio section respectively performs, using radio communication channels different from each other, communication to transmit one'"'"'s own device position information at every predetermined period and communication with the communication device designated by the transmission destination setting signal.

9. The communication device according to claim 1,

wherein the in-vehicle radio section performs, using a same radio communication system, communication to transmit one'"'"'s own device position information at every predetermined period and communication with the communication device designated by the transmission destination setting signal.

10. The communication device according to claim 1,

wherein the in-vehicle radio section respectively performs, using radio communication systems different from each other, communication to transmit one'"'"'s own device position information at every predetermined period and communication with the communication device designated by the transmission destination setting signal.

11. An inter-vehicle communication system which performs communication by using the communication devices according to claim 1 which are mounted on vehicles different from each other.

16. The communication device according to claim 3,

wherein when selecting a relay communication device, the transmission destination determining section calculates the moving direction and the moving speed of the communication device that is the latest to be set and registered in the surrounding communication device information table, and determines, by referring to the calculated moving direction and moving speed of the communication device, whether or not it is necessary to change a communication device to be selected as the relay communication device.

17. The communication device according to claim 3,

wherein when selecting a relay communication device from communication devices which are the latest to be set and registered in the surrounding communication device information table, the transmission destination determining section excludes, from a candidate relay communication device, a communication device which is located in the direction opposite to the direction of the position or area represented by the transmission destination position/area information, and excludes a communication device which corresponds to the position information reception time prior to the time going back by a predetermined time limit from the present time, or lowers the priority of the communication devices as the candidate relay communication device.

18. The communication device according to claim 4,

wherein when selecting a relay communication device from communication devices which are the latest to be set and registered in the surrounding communication device information table, the transmission destination determining section excludes, from a candidate relay communication device, a communication device which is located in the direction opposite to the direction of the position or area represented by the transmission destination position/area information, and excludes a communication device which corresponds to the position information reception time prior to the time going back by a predetermined time limit from the present time, or lowers the priority of the communication devices as the candidate relay communication device.

19. The communication device according to claim 3,

wherein when selecting a relay communication device from communication devices which are the latest to be set and registered in the surrounding communication device information table, the transmission destination determining section sets the communication device arranged at the roadside to have a higher priority for the relay communication device than the in-vehicle communication device.

20. The communication device according to claim 2,

wherein the in-vehicle radio section performs, using a same radio communication channel, communication to transmit one'"'"'s own device position information at every predetermined period and communication with the communication device designated by the transmission destination setting signal.

21. The communication device according to claim 2,

wherein the in-vehicle radio section respectively performs, using radio communication channels different from each other, communication to transmit one'"'"'s own device position information at every predetermined period and communication with the communication device designated by the transmission destination setting signal.

22. The communication device according to claim 2,

wherein the in-vehicle radio section performs, using a same radio communication system, communication to transmit one'"'"'s own device position information at every predetermined period and communication with the communication device designated by the transmission destination setting signal.

23. The communication device according to claim 2,

wherein the in-vehicle radio section respectively performs, using radio communication systems different from each other, communication to transmit one'"'"'s own device position information at every predetermined period and communication with the communication device designated by the transmission destination setting signal.

12. (canceled)

13. A communication method, which is performed by a communication device mounted on a vehicle or by a communication device arranged at the roadside, and which performs inter-vehicle communication between in-vehicle communication devices mounted on vehicles or which performs road-to-vehicle communication between an in-vehicle communication device and a communication device arranged at the roadside,

wherein the other communication device position information received from the other communication device and the reception time of the position information are stored in a surrounding communication device information table;

wherein when receiving transmission destination position/area information representing a position or area of a transmission destination communication device, a transmission destination determining section determines, on the basis of the transmission destination position/area information and the storage content of the surrounding communication device information table, a communication device with which communication is performed, and returns the determination result as a transmission destination setting signal; and

wherein an in-vehicle communication control section transmits one'"'"'s own device position information at every predetermined period, and stores, when receiving the position information from the other communication device, the received position information in the surrounding communication device information table via the transmission destination determining section together with the reception time of the position information, while when performing communication with a communication device whose position or area is designated, the in-vehicle communication control section outputs the transmission destination position/area information to the transmission destination determining section, and performs communication with the communication device designated by the subsequently transmitted transmission destination setting signal.

14-15. -15. (canceled)