JP2001126187A - Communication system and communication equipment for mobile body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system and communicating equipment for a mobile body, by which information is easily shared. SOLUTION: The communication equipment A uploads an URL address including information such as a present position or a destination to a server 11. The CGI script 12 of the server 11 receives the URL address including information such as the present position or the destination from the equipment A and updates a home page HA on the server 11 based on the information received by the server 11. The server 11 returns the home page which indicates that the home page HA on a provider is updated to the equipment A. Communication equipment B and communication equipment C download the home page HA of a vehicle A on the server 11 and, then, receive information of the equipment A. Received information is displayed on a screen in the equipment B and C as necessary. Then group traveling is executed by setting the destination or the present position of the equipment A as the destination of the equipment B or C.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile communication system for communicating information between mobile bodies, and a communication device mounted on or carried by the mobile body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various systems have been used for communication between mobile units. For example, there is a system for performing communication by connecting two mobile communication devices one-to-one with a wireless telephone line or the like.

There is also a system in which one communication path is shared between a plurality of mobile communication devices by wireless communication or the like to perform information communication. In this system, a plurality of mobiles can receive information at the same time because the communication path is shared.
Further, there is a system in which a base station or the like is provided outside a mobile body instead of directly communicating between mobile bodies, and a communication device of each mobile body exchanges information according to a request from the base station. For example, the mobile communication navigation device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-292248 uses an inter-vehicle communication technology in which the base station has the initiative. For example, when the base station requests information from the communication device of car A, the communication device of car A transmits the information to the base station in response. Then, the base station transmits the received information to the communication device of the vehicle B, and the communication device of the vehicle B receives the information, thereby realizing inter-vehicle communication. Such communication can be performed not only between vehicles but also between moving objects. In this case, the inter-mobile communication is realized by the base station requesting and transmitting information to each communication device with the initiative.

[0004]

However, in any of the mobile communication systems described above, it has been difficult to transmit and receive information between three or more mobiles at an arbitrary timing. That is, there is a case where the information of the mobile body on which the own apparatus is mounted cannot be transmitted to the communication apparatus of another mobile body at an arbitrary time. Conversely, information of the communication device of another mobile unit may not be able to be received at any time.

For example, in the above-described one-to-one connection system, a communication device of a mobile unit other than the two mobile units performing communication attempts to transmit information to one of the two mobile communication units. Cannot be transmitted because the wireless telephone line or the like is in use. Conversely, when information on either of the two mobile units that are communicating is needed, it cannot be received because the line is in use.

In a system in which one communication path is shared by a plurality of mobile communication apparatuses, it is necessary to confirm whether a communication apparatus of another mobile body is communicating on the communication path at the time of transmission. May not be sent immediately. In addition, in the case of reception, information of the target mobile unit cannot be obtained unless there is a transmission from the communication device of the target mobile unit.

[0007] Further, when transmitting in response to a request from a base station, information cannot be transmitted until there is a request from the base station. Also, if you need information about other moving objects,
Information cannot be obtained without transmission from the base station. In any system, not only transmission and reception cannot be performed at an arbitrary time, but also the mobile communication device needs to be always in a reception standby state. For example, in the case of a system in which information is directly exchanged between communication devices of each mobile unit, the own device is always in an area where reception is possible to receive information from another device or a request for information provision, and Must be on standby. Similarly, in the case of a communication system in which the base station has the initiative, the communication device must always be in a reception standby state in order to receive a request from the base station.

As described above, in any system, there is a problem that it is difficult to share information among a plurality of mobile communication devices. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication system and apparatus for a mobile body in which information can be easily shared.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention A communication system for a mobile unit according to claim 1 which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, comprises a first communication device, a second communication device, , And a server connected to a communication network.
Each of the first communication device and the second communication device is mounted or carried on at least one mobile body. For example, if the moving object is an object such as a vehicle, the communication device is mounted on the moving object, and if the moving object is a person, the communication device is carried.

[0010] The first communication device transmits the mobile unit information to the server when a predetermined transmission request occurs. The “moving object information” transmitted here means information in the own device or information input / detected from a moving object carrying or carrying the own device. Then, the server receives and stores the mobile unit information, and provides the stored information. This information is provided by transmitting the stored mobile object information to the requesting communication device in response to a transmission request to the server. The requesting communication device may be the second communication device or another communication device connected to the communication network.

[0011] The second communication device transmits a transmission request for mobile information to the server when a predetermined reception request occurs. Then, the second communication device receives the mobile information from the server. By doing so, information can be transmitted and received between mobile units via the server.

Further, since the server is connected to a communication network, for example, if a wireless telephone line or a wireless communication line is connected to the communication network, the server can be accessed via these lines. . Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the line is in use and communication cannot be performed as in the case of one-to-one communication.

[0013] Further, a mobile body provided with the first communication device,
When it is necessary to provide information to a plurality of mobile units equipped with the second communication device, the first communication device only needs to transmit information to the server only, and each of the second communication devices There is no need to send information separately. Therefore, the amount of communication at the time of transmission can be reduced, and the usage fee of the line can be reduced. Further, in the communication between the mobile communication devices, the radio wave condition and the like are often unstable, but in this case, it is not necessary to perform the direct communication between the communication devices on the mobile body, so that the communication becomes more stable. Communication can be performed. On the other hand, the second communication device also needs to request the server only when the mobile object information is needed, so it is necessary to constantly monitor the information being communicated on the communication path or wait in a receivable state. Absent. That is, transmission and reception can be performed completely asynchronously. Thus, the first communication device can transmit whenever information needs to be transmitted, and the second communication device can receive whenever information is required. As a result, information can be easily shared.

As described above, one-way communication can be performed if the first communication device performs transmission and the second communication device performs reception via the server. It is good to carry out two-way communication. That is, the second communication device also transmits mobile body information when a predetermined transmission request is issued, similarly to the first communication device, and conversely, the first communication device is similar to the second communication device. Then, when a predetermined reception request is generated, the mobile body information is also received. With this configuration, one communication device can transmit and receive mobile object information, and thus bidirectional communication can be performed between any communication devices. Thus, it is possible to transmit the information of the own device when it is desired to transmit the information, and conversely, it is possible to receive the information of the other device when necessary. Therefore, sharing of information becomes easier.

At this time, the server may store the received mobile unit information without distinguishing it for each communication device, and may transmit all the mobile unit information collectively when there is a transmission request. As shown in (1), the mobile unit information and the transmission request may include identification information for distinguishing a plurality of communication devices. By using the identification information, the server can distinguish and provide the mobile information for each communication device.

For example, when transmitting mobile unit information from each communication device to the server, an ID unique to the transmitting device is added to the mobile unit information and transmitted to the server. The server stores the mobile unit information in the storage device in a state where the mobile unit information can be extracted for each ID. On the other hand, when the communication device needs the mobile body information of a specific communication device, the communication device transmits the request by including the ID of the communication device in the transmission request. The server fetches the mobile object information corresponding to the ID from the storage device and transmits it to the requesting communication device. By doing so, it is possible to receive only information of a specific communication device required by each communication device, so that communication efficiency is further improved and information sharing is facilitated.

The information received by the communication device can be used for processing by the communication device itself. Alternatively, the information may be notified to the user. This notification is performed by, for example, displaying the received information on a display device, or outputting the information as voice from a speaker or the like. In this way, the user of the communication device can know the information of the communication device of another mobile unit.

The above-mentioned predetermined transmission request or predetermined reception request may be generated, for example, when a user's instruction is input to the communication device, or may be generated when the internal state of the communication device changes. Alternatively, the alarm may be generated every time a predetermined time elapses. If the communication device capable of transmitting issues a transmission request every time a predetermined time elapses, the latest information of the own device can be periodically sent to the server. On the other hand, if a receivable communication device issues a reception request each time a predetermined time elapses, information on other devices can be obtained periodically. In particular, when information that occurs periodically is included in the mobile object information, transmission and reception may be performed at predetermined time intervals.

In addition, information generated or required by a moving object often occurs when a moving object carrying or carrying a communication device moves. Therefore, it is preferable that a predetermined transmission request or a predetermined reception request is generated every time a moving object carrying or carrying the communication device moves a predetermined distance. The "communication device" refers to a first communication device or a second communication device capable of transmitting mobile information for a transmission request, and a second communication device or mobile information capable of receiving a reception request for a reception request. Refers to the first communication device. In this way, information generated by the movement can be automatically transmitted. Also, necessary information can be automatically received by the movement of the own device. This is particularly effective when the mobile object information includes information on the current position of the mobile object.

It is to be noted that the predetermined time according to the fifth aspect and the predetermined distance according to the sixth aspect may be different values at the time of transmission request and at the time of reception request. Further, only one of the transmission request and the reception request may be generated. These values may be set by the user or may be set in advance.

As described above, the communication device automatically communicates each time a predetermined time elapses or each time a mobile device carrying or carrying a communication device moves a predetermined distance, so that the communication device of another mobile device can be used even while moving. Information can be provided automatically. Conversely, information on communication devices of other moving objects can be automatically obtained even while moving. In particular, when the moving body equipped with the present apparatus is, for example, a vehicle, it is possible to prevent a situation that is not preferable for safe driving by performing a transmission operation or a reception operation during driving. Also, by setting the predetermined time or the predetermined distance appropriately in accordance with the frequency of occurrence and the amount of information of the communication line and the mobile information to be communicated, useless transmission and reception can be eliminated and the communication amount can be reduced.

The mobile unit information exchanged between the communication devices may include information indicating a destination of the mobile unit. This is because the destination of another moving object can be known. If the destination of another moving body can be known, local gathering can be performed at the destination of the moving body. For example, the destination of the communication device A is transmitted to the server, and the communication devices B, C, and D are provided with information from the server. If the users of the communication devices B, C, and D move to the destinations, the users can gather at the destination of the mobile body carrying or carrying the communication device A.

The destination information may be transmitted when the destination is set in the communication device. This makes it possible to immediately send the latest destination to the server when the destination is set or updated. If another communication device requests the destination information sent to the server and receives the destination information from the server, the latest destination information of the moving object can be obtained.

On the other hand, the destination information may be received when a user's instruction is input. This is because it is possible to obtain the necessary destination of the moving body when necessary.
Further, if the destination information is received at predetermined time intervals as described in claim 3, it is possible to automatically and automatically obtain the destination information of another moving object. In this way, even when the destination of another moving body is changed, it is possible to prevent the user from moving to the destination before the change without knowing the change.

When a destination of another mobile body is obtained in this way, the user can move to the notified destination and thereby gather at the local site. The communication device may navigate the destination indicated by the destination information as the destination of the own device. In this way, even if the destination of another moving body is unknown to the user, it is possible to reach the destination.

By using the destination information as the moving body information in this way, the destination of another moving body can be known. However, there are cases where the user wants to know the current position instead of the destination.
Therefore, it is preferable that the present invention includes current position information indicating the current position of the moving object as the moving object information. In this way, the current location of the own device can be notified to the other device. Conversely, the current location of another device can be known. If the current location of the other device can be known, a mobile object carrying or carrying the other device can be tracked.

Further, for example, as described in claim 6, each time the mobile unit a carrying or carrying the communication device A moves a predetermined distance, the communication device A transmits the current location information, and the communication device B of the mobile unit b If the present location information is received from the server every time the predetermined time elapses as described in claim 5, and the received current location information is notified to the user as described in claim 4, the moving body b follows the moving body a. You can move while. If the moving speed of the moving object b is faster than the moving speed of the moving object a, the moving object b can catch up with the moving object a. Of course, if a plurality of mobile units are provided with the same communication device as the mobile unit b and perform communication, the multiple mobile units can follow the mobile unit a. In particular, when the moving body is a vehicle, it is very convenient because another vehicle can follow.

However, at this time, if the user on the trailing side does not know the geography near the current location of the moving body, the user cannot chase. Therefore, as described in claim 11, navigation may be performed using the current location indicated by the received current location information of another moving body as the destination of the own device. In this way, even if the current location of the mobile object carrying or carrying another communication device is unknown, it is possible to reach the current location. When this navigation is performed based on the result of the route calculation to the destination, as described in claim 12, this route calculation is performed when the current location of the received other moving body has moved a predetermined distance or more. Good to do. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the processing related to the route calculation.

Further, the mobile unit information may include route information indicating a route of the mobile unit to the destination. In this way, the route of the own device can be notified to the other device. Conversely, the route of another device can be known. If the route of the other device can be known, the route of the moving object carrying or carrying the own device is determined in consideration of the route of the moving object carrying or carrying the other device. be able to. This route may be part or all of the route to the destination.

In this case, it is more preferable to perform the navigation based on the received route information. This is because the route of the own device can be determined in consideration of the received route of the other device. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably merge with a mobile body that carries or carries another device.

By the way, when the mobile unit receives the mobile unit information including the position information of another mobile unit, the communication unit determines the purpose of the other communication unit based on the mobile unit information. At least one of the ground, the current location, and the route may be displayed together with a map of the surrounding area. In this way, the user can easily understand the location indicated by the moving object information of another moving object. In this case, of course, information on a plurality of other devices may be displayed simultaneously.

At this time, at least one of the destination, the current location, and the route of the own apparatus may be displayed together. This makes it easier to understand the positional relationship between the moving object carrying or carrying another device and the moving object carrying or carrying the own device.

As described above, according to the present system, information generated in a moving object can be easily shared between the moving objects. In particular, if the communication network is the Internet, the server can be accessed via a provider or the like. Since there are many providers on the Internet and these providers are generally provided with a large number of lines, there is a high possibility that information can be transmitted and received at any time.

Further, since it is possible to browse the information of the mobile unit from a computer accessible to the Internet, it is possible to know the mobile unit information from a place other than the mobile unit such as a home or an office. As described above, the moving body may be anything that moves, such as a person or an object. However, the present invention is particularly effective when the moving body is a vehicle. For example, following another car by navigating the position of the other car as the destination of your own car,
By navigating the destination of another vehicle as the destination of the own vehicle, it is possible to gather locally. It is also possible for a plurality of vehicles to follow a specific vehicle, or for a plurality of vehicles to gather locally at the destination of the specific vehicle. further,
Since transmission and reception of such information can be performed automatically, there is no burden on the driver due to operation of the device.

The communication system for a mobile body has been described above. However, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention can be realized as a communication device. That is, the communication device is a communication device that can communicate with a server connected to a communication network, is mounted on or carried by a mobile body, and has at least one of a transmission function and a reception function. The transmission function is a function of transmitting mobile unit information to the server when a predetermined transmission request is issued. On the other hand, the reception function transmits a transmission request for requesting the mobile body information stored in the server when a predetermined reception request occurs, and in response to the transmission request,
This is a function to receive mobile information transmitted from the server.

According to the communication device configured as described above,
The same effect as the first or second communication device used in the mobile communication system according to the first or second aspect can be obtained. In addition, when realizing as a communication device,
Furthermore, the features of the first or second communication device described in claims 3 to 18 may be provided.

[0037]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It is needless to say that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following examples, and can take various forms as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

First, the outline of information exchange on the mobile communication system in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a flow of information when a car B and a car C acquire information on a car A. The server 11 shown in FIG. 1 is a computer connected to the Internet via a network interface, and functions as a WWW server. In addition, when a predetermined URL address is accessed, the CGI script 12 stored in the hard disk is executed.

On the other hand, the communication device 20 shown in FIG. 2 is mounted on each of the vehicles A, B and C. In order to distinguish each communication device 20 for each vehicle, as shown in FIG. 1, each communication device 20 is hereinafter referred to as a communication device A, a communication device B,
Called communication device C. Each communication device A, B, C
Connect to an Internet provider via a telephone line,
The server 11 can be accessed from the provider via the Internet.

The procedure for transmitting and receiving information between vehicles in the above configuration will be described below. Procedure 1. The communication device A uploads a URL address including information such as a current position and a destination to the server 11. Procedure 2. The CGI script 12 of the server 11 is executed and receives a URL address including information such as a current position and a destination from the communication device A, and updates the home page HA on the server 11 based on the information.

Procedure 3. The CGI script 12 is executed, and a homepage indicating that the homepage HA on the provider has been updated is returned to the communication device A. Step 4. The communication device B and the communication device C refer to the information of the communication device A by downloading the homepage HA of the car A on the provider. This means that the communication devices B and C have received the information from the communication device A.

Procedure 5. The communication devices B and C display the received information on the screen as needed. Procedure 6. The communication device B and the communication device C can perform group travel by referring to the destination and the current location of the communication device A and setting the destination as the destination of the communication device B and the communication device C.

The above is a brief description of the system of this embodiment. Subsequently, the device configuration of the communication device 20 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication device 20 of the present embodiment includes a position detector 2
1, a remote control sensor 22, a mobile phone connection device 23, an external storage device 24, an audio output device 25, a display device 26, and a control circuit 27 connected thereto. The control circuit 27 is configured as a normal computer,
A well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, a plurality of timers, and a bus line for connecting these are provided therein. The position detector 21 includes a GPS receiver 21a, a gyroscope 21b, a distance sensor 21c, and a geomagnetic sensor 21d.

The mobile phone connection device 23 can connect to the Internet provider 19 by connecting a mobile phone 29. The mobile phone 29 is controlled by the control circuit 27 via the mobile phone connection device 23, and when transmitting or receiving information, the provider 1
9 is dialed and communication becomes possible. When the transmission or reception of information is completed, control is performed so as to disconnect the line. When a mobile phone capable of performing packet communication is connected, packet communication is enabled immediately after power-on.

The external storage device 24 stores information such as map data and vehicle information. The display device 26 is a color display device. On the screen of the display device 26, a current position mark indicating a current position obtained by a known method based on the information input from the position detector 21 is input from the external storage device 24. Data such as map data, a destination mark indicating a set destination, other vehicle information obtained through communication, a guidance route to the destination, other character information, image information, and the like can be displayed in a superimposed manner. The voice output device 25 outputs various guide voices and the like.

The communication device 20 can input an instruction including the following operations 1 to 3 from a remote control terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a remote controller) 28 via a remote control sensor 22. 1. It is determined whether to transmit the vehicle information to the server 11.

2. Select which car information you want to get. 3. Select how the communication device will process the received data. Then, the apparatus transmits the own vehicle information to the provider, receives the selected other vehicle information, displays the received information on the screen, and displays the received information on the screen, based on the received information. A function of notifying information for group driving is provided. 3 to 8 show processing executed by the control circuit 27 of the communication device 20 to realize the above-described functions.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing for displaying a map or the like, setting for communication of the communication device 20 of this embodiment, and starting each processing. In S100, the map and the menu are displayed on the display device 26 of FIG. This map is a map of the vicinity of the current position calculated by a known method based on information input from the position detector 21 by the control circuit 27, and is read from the external storage device 24 by the control circuit 27 and displayed on the display device 26. Then, a mark indicating the current location is displayed on the map based on the information input from the position detector 21. When a destination is set by a setting process (not shown) or a process described later, a guide route to the destination is created by a known method and displayed on a map. On the other hand, the menu displayed together with the map displays an item for selecting whether or not to display a setting screen regarding communication.

At S110, a selection is made as to whether to display a setting screen. When an instruction to display the setting screen is input by selecting a menu (S110: Y
ES), and proceeds to S120. On the other hand, if the instruction to display the setting screen has not been input from the menu (S110: NO), the process ends.

In S120, a menu for selecting an operation to be executed is displayed on the display device 26. This menu includes items of updating own vehicle position, displaying other vehicle position, following other vehicle, and merging with the destination, and can be selected by the remote controller 28. In this menu, a plurality of items can be selected at the same time. That is, the operation can be selected in any combination from among the own vehicle position update, the other vehicle position display, the other vehicle follow-up, and the destination junction. However, it is not possible to simultaneously select another vehicle follow-up and a destination merge point because a destination to be route-guided cannot be uniquely determined. If no item is selected, no communication is performed.

Subsequently, in S130, the address of the other vehicle is input or selected. The address of the other vehicle is represented by a URL address. These addresses are used by a user of a communication device of another vehicle, or addresses disclosed on a homepage are used. Further, the information may be obtained by searching from a user name or the like using a search system or the like. The address thus obtained is input or selected by the remote controller 28. Note that once you have entered or selected the address,
The stored address may be displayed on a menu so that it can be selected from the menu.

In S140, when the own vehicle position update is selected in S120, the distance of the traveling distance for transmitting the information is input. The traveling distance has a predetermined value set as a default value, and can be changed by the remote controller 28 or the like. When the own vehicle position update is not selected in S120, the process proceeds to S150 without performing any substantial processing.

In S150, the other vehicle position is displayed in S120,
When at least one of the following of the other vehicle and the joining of the destination is selected, the time interval for receiving the information is input. If neither is selected, no substantial processing is performed and S16
Move to 0. As in the case of S140, the time interval is set to a predetermined value as a default value, and can be changed by the remote controller 28 or the like.

Next, in S160, a dialog for selecting whether to update the setting of the communication device 20 to the setting input in S120 to S150 is displayed on the display device 26, and the selection by the remote controller 28 via the remote controller sensor 22 is performed. The result is input, and it is determined whether or not to update to the input setting based on the selection result. When updating to the input setting (S160: YES), the process proceeds to S170, and when not updating (S160: NO), the process ends.

In S170, the operation input in S120 to S150 is started. The above is the description of the flowchart showing the setting for the display and communication of the map and the like and the processing for starting each processing. Note that the setting can be canceled with the remote controller 28 during the setting. This routine is repeatedly executed each time a predetermined time elapses.

FIG. 4 shows a process for starting the operation in S170, a process for updating the position of the own vehicle, a process for displaying the position of another vehicle, and a process for following the other vehicle. 6
Next, the processing in the case of the destination merge is shown in FIG. 7 and will be described in order. FIG. 4 shows a process of updating the own vehicle position every time the vehicle travels for a certain distance.

In step S200, the running distance counter is initialized.
At S210, the value of the mileage counter is set to the value of the previous
The distance traveled since the execution of step 10 is added to obtain a new value of the traveling distance counter. The distance traveled since the previous execution of S210 is calculated by a known method based on the information of the position detector 21.

At S220, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance. This distance is the value of the traveling distance input in S140 of FIG. If the value of the traveling distance counter is equal to or greater than this value, it means that the vehicle has traveled a certain distance (S220: YE).
S), proceed to S230. On the other hand, if the value of the traveling distance counter is smaller than this value (S220: NO), S21
Return to 0.

In S230, the position information and the destination of the own vehicle are transmitted. The position information of the own vehicle is calculated by a known method based on the information of the position detector 21. The destination is transmitted when the destination is set by another process (not shown) or a process described later. The process of FIG. 4 is repeatedly performed until a stop instruction is input or the vehicle arrives at the destination.

Next, a description will be given of a process in the case of the other vehicle position display shown in FIG. In S300, it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed. The control circuit 2 determines whether the predetermined time has elapsed.
The determination is made based on the value of a timer (not shown) provided in 7. If the predetermined time has elapsed (S300: YES), S
310, and if not elapsed (S300: N
O), returning to S300. Note that this timer is reset at the start of this routine and starts counting.

At S310, the position information of the designated other vehicle is received. The position information of the designated other vehicle is S13 in FIG.
This is the position information described on the homepage of the address of the other vehicle input or selected at 0. At S320 that follows,
Based on the position information received at 310, the received other vehicle position is displayed on the display device 26. At this time, a map near the position of another vehicle is also displayed.

The process shown in FIG. 5 is repeated until a stop instruction is issued or the vehicle arrives at another vehicle position. Next, a description will be given of a process in the case of another vehicle following shown in FIG. In S400, it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed. Whether the predetermined time has elapsed is determined by the value of a timer (not shown) provided in the control circuit 27. If the predetermined time has elapsed (S400: YES), the process proceeds to S410, and if not (S400: NO), the process returns to S400. Note that this timer is reset at the start of this routine and starts counting.

At S410, the position information of the designated other vehicle is received. The position information of the designated other vehicle is S13 in FIG.
This is the position information described on the homepage of the address of the other vehicle input or selected at 0. In S430, it is determined whether the position of the other vehicle has moved. The determination of the movement of the other vehicle position is performed by comparing the position information received in S410 this time with the position information received in the previous S410. If the position of the other vehicle has moved (S430: YES), the process proceeds to S440, and if the position of the other vehicle has not moved (S430: N).
O), the process ends.

In S440, the guide route is re-created with the other vehicle position as the destination. The process shown in FIG. 6 is repeatedly performed until a stop instruction is issued. Subsequently, the processing in the case of the destination merging shown in FIG. 7 will be described. In S500, it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed. Whether the predetermined time has elapsed is determined by the value of a timer (not shown) provided in the control circuit 27. If the predetermined time has elapsed (S50
0: YES), the process proceeds to S510, and if it has not elapsed (S500: NO), the process returns to S500. Note that this timer is reset at the start of this routine and starts counting.

At S510, destination information of the designated other vehicle is received. The destination information of the designated other vehicle is represented by S in FIG.
This is destination information described on the homepage of the address of the other vehicle input or selected in 130. In subsequent S520, it is determined whether or not the received destination of the other vehicle has moved. The determination of the movement of the destination of another vehicle is made by comparing the destination information received in this time S510 with the destination information received in the previous time S510. If the received destination of the other vehicle has moved (S520: YES), the process proceeds to S530, and if it has not moved (S520: NO), the process ends.

At S530, the received destination of the other vehicle is set as the destination of the own device, and the guide route is created again. The process shown in FIG. 7 is repeatedly performed until a stop instruction is issued. The above is the description of each process started in S170 of FIG. When a plurality of operations are selected in S120 of FIG. 3, those processes are executed in combination. As an example, FIG. 8 shows a process when the update of the own vehicle position, the display of the other vehicle position, and the follow-up of the other vehicle are combined. In the process shown in FIG. 8, first, the own vehicle position updating process is performed, then, the process of displaying the position of another vehicle is performed, and finally, the process of following the other vehicle is performed. FIG. 8
Are repeatedly performed until a stop instruction is issued. Hereinafter, description will be given according to the flowchart of FIG.

At S600, the running distance counter is initialized. However, this traveling distance counter is initialized in S60.
This is performed only at the first execution of 0, and is not initialized during the repetitive processing. In the following S610, the distance traveled since the previous execution of S610 is added to the value of the traveling distance counter to obtain a new value of the traveling distance counter. Note that the previous S610
Is calculated by a known method based on the information of the position detector 21.

In S620, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance. This distance is the value of the traveling distance input in S140 of FIG. If the value of the traveling distance counter is equal to or greater than this value, it means that the vehicle has traveled a certain distance (S620: YE).
S), the traveling distance counter is initialized, and the flow shifts to S630. On the other hand, if the value of the traveling distance counter is smaller than this value (S620: NO), the process proceeds to S640.

In S630, the position information and the destination of the own vehicle are transmitted. The position information of the own vehicle is calculated by a known method based on the information of the position detector 21. The destination is transmitted when the destination is set by another process (not shown) or a process described later. In S640, it is detected whether a predetermined time has elapsed. Whether the predetermined time has elapsed is determined by the value of a timer (not shown) provided in the control circuit 27. If the predetermined time has elapsed (S640: YES), the timer is reset and the process proceeds to S650, and if not (S640: NO), the process ends. This timer is reset at the first startup of this routine and starts counting.

At S650, the position information of the designated other vehicle is received. The position information of the designated other vehicle is S13 in FIG.
This is the position information described on the homepage of the address of the other vehicle input or selected at 0. In the following S660, S
Based on the position information received at 650, the received other vehicle position is displayed on the display device 26. At this time, a map near the position of another vehicle is also displayed.

At S670, it is determined whether the position of the other vehicle has moved. The determination of the movement of the other vehicle position is performed by comparing the position information received in S650 this time with the position information received in S650 last time. If the position of another vehicle has moved (S6
70: YES), the process proceeds to S680, and if the position of the other vehicle is not moving (S670: NO), the process ends.

In S680, another vehicle position is set as the destination, and the guide route is created again. The process of selecting an operation executed in the control circuit 27 of the communication device and the process of each operation selected and started have been described above with reference to FIGS. Transmission and reception are performed during these processes. Hereinafter, the transmission processing, the reception processing, and the processing on the server side will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 9 shows a process executed by the control circuit 27 when transmitting own vehicle information. FIG.
Is a process executed in the control circuit 27 when receiving other vehicle information. FIG. 11 shows a process executed by the server 11 of FIG. The respective processes will be described below.

FIG. 9 shows a process for transmitting the vehicle information. This processing is a routine for performing actual transmission processing when transmitting the position and destination of the own vehicle in S230 and the like in FIG. When transmitting information such as the position and destination of the vehicle, the information to be transmitted is stored in a predetermined memory area,
Send a transmission command to this routine. On the other hand, in this routine, a transmission command is monitored, and when a transmission command is issued, information to be transmitted is acquired from a predetermined memory area, and a URL address is organized and transmitted to the server 11. Then, a home page indicating that the home page has been updated is downloaded from the server 11. Hereinafter, description will be given according to the flowchart.

At S700, it is determined whether there is a transmission command. If there is a transmission command (S700: YES), S7
Move to 10. If there is no transmission command (S700: N
O), returning to S700. In S710, information to be transmitted is acquired.

In S720, a URL address is organized by incorporating the information to be transmitted and the address of the apparatus, and the homepage is downloaded. This URL address is shown in FIG.
The CGI script 12 of the server 11 shown in FIG. Then, the server 11 updates the corresponding homepage based on the address of the apparatus included in the URL address. The processing in the server 11 will be described later. Thus, the transmission process is completed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the processing when the other vehicle information is received. S310 in FIG. 5, S410 in FIG. 6, FIG.
Is a routine for performing actual reception processing when information is received in S510 and the like. When information is received in S310 or the like, a reception command is sent to this routine, and the process waits until the information received by the processing of this routine is passed.
Move to the next process when passed. On the other hand, the present routine monitors a reception command, and when a reception command is issued, downloads a home page having information to be received. Then, the information designated by the reception command is extracted from the downloaded homepage and passed to the routine that sent the reception command. Hereinafter, description will be given according to the flowchart.

At S800, it is determined whether there is a reception command. If there is a receiving command (S800: YES), S8
Move to 10. If there is no reception command (S800: N
O), returning to S800. In S810, a home page having information to be received is downloaded. The URL address of the homepage containing the information to be received is S13 in FIG.
Use the address entered or selected with 0.

In S820, necessary information instructed by the transmission instruction is extracted from the downloaded homepage. If the position information is necessary, the position information is taken out, and if the destination information is needed, the destination information is taken out and passed to the routine which sent the reception command. Thus, the receiving process ends.

Next, referring to FIG. 11, server 1 downloads the homepage in the transmission process on the communication device side shown in FIG. 9 and the reception process on the communication device side shown in FIG.
The processing on one side will be described. In S900, the received UR
It is determined whether the extension of the L address is HTML or CGI.
In the case of CGI (S900: CGI), the process proceeds to S910, and in the case of HTML (S900: HTML), S93.
Move to 0.

At S910, the corresponding home page is updated based on the information incorporated in the URL address. At S920, a home page describing whether the information has been correctly updated is transmitted. On the other hand, in S930, U
The home page indicated by the RL address is transmitted.

The processing in the server 11 is started each time there is a request for transmission or reception from the communication device to the server 11. S910 and S920 of this flow
Corresponds to the processing of the CGI script 12, and the processing of S9
The processing of 00 and S930 corresponds to the processing of the WWW server.

The system configuration, device configuration,
Through the processing, it is possible to follow another vehicle or to gather locally at the destination of another vehicle. Further, since information is transmitted every time the vehicle travels a predetermined distance and received every time a predetermined time elapses, communication without waste can be performed, and information on other vehicles can be obtained periodically. Therefore, information can be more easily shared between vehicles. Server 11
Is connected to the Internet, so that the current location and destination of the vehicle can be known even with a browser such as a home or office. Another Embodiment (1) In the above embodiment, the case where the Internet provider and the server are different has been described. However, the computer of the provider may also serve as a server that performs the above processing and a dial-up server. Also, the server does not necessarily need to be connected to the Internet.
For example, it may be connected to a company intranet or another communication network. (2) In the above embodiment, an example of a communication device mounted on a vehicle has been described. However, a communication device of another form may be used. For example, the same applies to a portable communication device. (3) In FIG. 2, the number of vehicles from which other vehicle position display can be selected may be plural. In this case, the process of displaying the other vehicle position in FIG. 5 is executed for each of the selected vehicles. Further, the route guidance is performed by transmitting and receiving the destination or position information, but the route guidance may be performed by transmitting and receiving the information of the guide route displayed in S100 of FIG. By doing so, the route of the other vehicle can be known, and the vehicle can join the other vehicle ahead of the route. (4) In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, it is determined whether the position of the other vehicle has moved, and when the position of the vehicle has moved, the guide route is recreated with the new position of the other vehicle as the destination. At this time, the guide route may be created only when the movement amount of the position of the other vehicle is equal to or more than a predetermined value. The predetermined movement amount may be set by the user in the flow shown in FIG. 3 or may be set in advance to a value at which the guide route should be recreated. (5) In the above embodiment, when a plurality of operations are selected in S120 of FIG. 3, an example is shown in FIG. 8 in which the processes are combined and executed. The processing may be performed simultaneously. That is, the processes of FIGS. 4 to 7 may be executed by multitasking.

In FIGS. 4 to 7, it is determined in the flow that a certain period of time has elapsed or the vehicle has traveled a certain distance. However, the determination is not made in the flow but is performed by interruption from various sensors or the like. May be started. (6) In the above embodiment, transmission and reception are performed automatically. However, transmission and reception may be performed at any time as needed. In this case, for example, an instruction to transmit the position of the own vehicle or receive the position of another vehicle is input from the remote controller 28. By doing so, it is possible to transmit when the user wants to immediately notify his / her vehicle information. Conversely, the latest information of other vehicles can be received when necessary. (7) In the above embodiment, the communication device downloads a homepage and then extracts necessary information from the downloaded homepage.
It may be performed on one side. For example, the control circuit 27 of the communication device 20 executes the processing illustrated in FIG. 12 instead of the processing illustrated in FIG. In addition, the server 11 executes the processing illustrated in FIG. 13 instead of the processing illustrated in FIG.

On the communication device 20 side, as shown in FIG. 12, the processing shown in S1010 is performed instead of the processing in S810 in FIG. In S1010, the homepage of the URL address in which the information specifying the information to be received is incorporated is downloaded. The other processes are the same as those in FIG.

On the other hand, the server 11 performs the processing shown in FIG. In S1100, it is determined whether to update the information or to acquire the information based on the information embedded in the received URL address.
In the case of information update (S1100: information update) S111
0, and in the case of information acquisition (S1100: information acquisition), shifts to S1130.

In S1110, the home page is updated based on the information incorporated in the URL address. Then S11
At 20, a home page describing whether the information has been correctly updated is transmitted. On the other hand, in S1130, a home page containing only the specified information is created based on the home page of the car instructed.

In S1140, the created homepage is transmitted. By doing so, it is not necessary to perform a part or all of the process of extracting necessary information from the home page received by the communication device. Therefore, the load on the communication device can be reduced.

In S1110 to S1140, the homepage is updated, transmitted, used, etc. When the database is provided in the server 11 instead of the homepage, the received information is stored in this database, and when there is a request. Alternatively, a homepage may be dynamically generated by reading information stored from a database. In this way, information can be centrally managed in the database. (8) Finally, regarding the mobile communication system described above, if the device configuration and processing described so far are shown together in a functional block diagram, for example, the functional configuration as shown in FIG. 14 can be obtained. That is, the destination setting unit 51, the route creating unit 52, the vehicle state grasping unit 53, the own vehicle position detecting unit 5
4. Operation setting input section 55, mileage counter 56, time counter 57, display section 58, communication section 59, automatic transmission / reception command section 60, transmission information creation section 61, reception information determination section 62
Communication device 20 comprising: a reception information discriminating unit 71, a homepage updating unit 72, a storage unit 73, and a homepage replying unit 7.
4. A system is configured with the server 11 including the communication unit 75.

In the communication device 20, the automatic transmission / reception command unit 60 sends a transmission / reception command to the transmission information creation unit 61 or the reception information discrimination unit 62 based on the operation setting input unit 55, the mileage counter 56, and the time counter 57. Server 1
When the information is transmitted to the automatic transmission / reception unit 1, the destination information setting unit 51, the route generation unit 52, the vehicle state grasping unit 53, and the vehicle position detection unit 54
To transmit information, and transmit the information of the server 11 via the communication unit 59. In the server 11, the information is received by the communication unit 75 and sent to the received information determination unit 71.
The reception information determination unit 71 determines whether the received information is information to be stored or a transmission request.
If the information is to be stored, the information is passed to the homepage updating unit 72. The homepage update unit 72 stores the information in the storage unit 73. Information is transmitted from the communication device 20 to the server 11 by exchanging information between the functions as described above.

On the other hand, when information is received from the server 11, a transmission request is created by the transmission information creation unit 61 in accordance with an instruction from the automatic transmission / reception instruction unit 60 and transmitted to the server 11 via the communication unit 59. In the server 11, the communication unit 75 receives the transmission request and passes it to the reception information determination unit 71. The reception information discriminating unit 71 passes the address of the vehicle having the transmission request to the homepage replying unit 74. The homepage reply section 74 takes out the relevant homepage from the storage section 73 and transmits it to the communication device 20 via the communication section 75. The communication device 20 receives the home page by the communication unit 59 and passes the home page to the received information determination unit 62. The reception information discriminating unit 62 extracts the information instructed from the automatic transmission / reception instructing unit 60 from the information of the received home page, creates a route in the route creating unit 52 as a new destination of the destination setting unit 51, and performs the display unit 5
8 is displayed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a flow of information when performing communication between vehicles.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a main flowchart showing processing related to communication executed by a control circuit of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of updating a vehicle position executed by a control circuit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another vehicle position display process executed by the control circuit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing another vehicle following processing executed by the control circuit of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a destination merger executed by the control circuit of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the control circuit according to the embodiment when the own vehicle position update, the other vehicle position display, and the other vehicle follow-up are combined.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of transmitting own-vehicle information executed by the control circuit according to the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another vehicle information reception processing executed by the control circuit according to the embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the server according to the embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing another vehicle information reception processing executed by a control circuit of another embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by a server according to another embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment represented by functional blocks.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Server 12 ... CG
I script 19 Internet provider 21 Position detector 21a GPS receiver 21b Gyroscope 21c Distance sensor 21d Geomagnetic sensor 22 Remote control sensor 23 Cellular phone connection device 24 External storage device 25 Audio output device 26 Display device 27 ... Control circuit 28 ... Remote control 29 ... Mobile phone 51 ... Destination setting unit 52 ... Route creation unit 53 ... Vehicle state grasping unit 54 ... Own vehicle position detection unit 55 ... Operation setting input unit 56 ... Driving distance counter 57 ... Time counter 58 ... Display unit 59 ... Communication unit 60 ... Automatic transmission / reception command unit 61 ... Transmission information creation unit 71 ... Reception information discrimination unit 72 ... Homepage update unit 73 ... Storage unit 74 ... Homepage reply unit 75 ... Communication unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04Q 7/38 H04B 7/26 109M 9A001 F term (Reference) 2C032 HB25 HC08 HD03 HD12 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AC02 AC04 AC14 5B089 GA11 GA25 HA10 JA16 JA33 JA36 JB01 JB03 JB10 JB22 KA02 KA04 KB04 KB07 KC30 KC59 KE02 KE03 LB14 LB17 5H180 AA01 BB05 BB13 FF04 FF05 DD20 FF25 FF27 FF32 5K013 AA34 BB36 FF36 FF25 JJ25 JJ78 KK56

Claims (19)

[Claims] A first communication device mounted or carried on at least one mobile object, a second communication device mounted or carried on at least one mobile object, and a server connected to a communication network. The first communication device transmits, to the server, information on a mobile body that carries or carries its own device or mobile body information that is information on its own device, to the server when a predetermined transmission request occurs. The server stores the mobile information when the mobile information is received, and the second communication device stores the mobile information when a predetermined reception request occurs. Transmitting a transmission request for requesting mobile information to the server; the server transmitting the mobile information to the second communication device in response to the transmission request; Dress A mobile communication system for receiving the mobile information from the server. 2. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the second communication device transmits the mobile information to the server when a predetermined transmission request occurs, The first communication device, when a predetermined reception request occurs, transmits a transmission request for requesting the mobile object information stored in the server to the server, and from the server, the mobile object information A communication system for a mobile body, comprising: 3. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile information and the transmission request include identification information for distinguishing a plurality of communication devices, and the server transmits the transmission request. Transmitting the mobile information corresponding to the identification information included in the mobile communication system. 4. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein said second communication device or said first communication device capable of receiving said mobile information receives said mobile communication device. A communication system for a mobile body, which notifies a user of body information. 5. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said predetermined transmission request and said predetermined reception request is generated every time a predetermined time elapses. A communication system for a mobile object, characterized in that: 6. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the predetermined transmission request or the predetermined reception request is a mobile communication device that carries or carries the communication device. A communication system for a mobile object, wherein the communication is generated every time the body moves a predetermined distance. 7. The communication system for a mobile unit according to claim 1, wherein said mobile unit information includes destination information indicating a destination of the mobile unit. system. 8. The communication system for a mobile unit according to claim 7, wherein the first communication device or the second communication device capable of transmitting the mobile information is configured to set a destination when a destination is set. A communication system for a mobile unit, wherein the predetermined transmission request is generated. 9. The mobile communication system according to claim 7, wherein the second communication device or the first communication device capable of receiving the mobile information further has a navigation function, A mobile communication system characterized in that when destination information is received, a destination indicated by the destination information is navigated as a destination of the own device. 10. The communication system for a mobile unit according to claim 1, wherein the mobile unit information includes current position information indicating a current position of the mobile unit. 11. The mobile communication system according to claim 10, wherein said second communication device or said first communication device capable of receiving said mobile information further has a navigation function, and said current location information is provided. A mobile communication system characterized in that when receiving a current location, the current location indicated by the current location information is navigated as a destination of the own device. 12. The communication system for a mobile unit according to claim 11, wherein when the navigation function is performed based on a result of the route calculation, the route calculation is performed when a current position of another received mobile unit is a predetermined distance. A mobile communication system, which is performed when the user moves. 13. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile information includes route information indicating a route of the mobile to a destination. Communication system. 14. The mobile communication system according to claim 13, wherein said second communication device or said first communication device capable of receiving said mobile information further has a navigation function, and said route information is provided. A navigation system based on the route information when receiving the communication route. 15. The mobile communication system according to claim 7, wherein said second communication device or said first communication device capable of receiving said mobile information receives said mobile communication device. A communication system for a mobile body, wherein at least one of a destination, a current position, and a route of another communication device is displayed together with a map of a surrounding area based on body information. 16. The communication system for a mobile unit according to claim 15, wherein at least one of a destination, a current position, and a route of the own device is displayed together with said peripheral map. system. 17. The communication system for a mobile unit according to claim 1, wherein said communication network is the Internet. 18. The communication system for a mobile object according to claim 1, wherein said mobile object is a vehicle. 19. A communication device communicable with a server connected to a communication network, mounted on or carried by a mobile body, and, when a predetermined transmission request is issued, the server transmits the request to the server. A transmission function for transmitting information on a mobile body carrying or carrying a mobile body information which is information on the own device, or a transmission function for requesting the mobile body information stored in the server when a predetermined reception request occurs. A communication device having at least one of a reception function of transmitting a request and receiving mobile object information transmitted from the server in response to the transmission request.