JP2007249473A - On-vehicle information collection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent transmission of the same probe information as probe information transmitted from the other vehicle to a center to the center. <P>SOLUTION: Probe information transmitted from an on-vehicle information collection device provided on the other vehicle to the center is received through vehicle-to-vehicle communication (S200). From this probe information and probe information collected by traveling of an own vehicle, whether the probe information transmitted from the on-vehicle information collection device to the center and the probe collected by the own vehicle show traffic information of the same link or not is determined (S204). When the probe information collected by the own vehicle is determined not to show the traffic information of the same link, this probe information is transmitted to the center (S206). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle information collection device that transmits probe information including traffic information for each link collected by traveling of a vehicle to a center using a wide area wireless communication network.

Conventionally, probe information indicating traffic information on a travel route is collected by a plurality of probe cars and transmitted to a center via a wide-area wireless communication network, and the transmitted probe information is accumulated in a center database and accumulated in the database. There is a system that predicts a traffic jam situation using the probe information (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-251698 A

  However, in the system described in Patent Document 1, since probe information collected individually by each probe car is transmitted to the center via the wide area wireless communication network, for example, a plurality of probe cars are running in a row. In such a case, a situation can be considered in which similar probe information is transmitted from another probe car to the center immediately after the probe information is transmitted from one probe car to the center. In this case, there is a problem that useless probe information is accumulated in the center database. In addition, useless communication is performed via the wide area communication network.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to prevent probe information similar to probe information transmitted from another vehicle to the center from being transmitted to the center.

  The first feature of the present invention is included in vehicle-to-vehicle communication means that directly communicates with an in-vehicle information collection device mounted in another vehicle, and probe information sent to the center from the in-vehicle information collection device mounted in another vehicle. Probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of the other vehicle to the center from the receiving means for receiving the information via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication means, the information received by the receiving means and the probe information collected by the traveling of the own vehicle And probe information collected by the host vehicle, the first determination means for determining whether or not the traffic information of the same link in the same time zone is indicated. When it is determined by the means that the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of the other vehicle to the center and the probe information collected by the own vehicle do not indicate traffic information of the same link in the same time zone Is to send a probe information collected by the vehicle to the center.

  In such a configuration, when it is determined that the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of another vehicle to the center and the probe information collected by the own vehicle do not indicate traffic information of the same link in the same time zone. The probe information collected by the vehicle is sent to the center. That is, if it is determined that the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of another vehicle to the center and the probe information collected by the own vehicle indicate traffic information of the same link in the same time zone, Since probe information collected by the car is not sent to the center, probe information similar to the probe information sent from another car to the center can be prevented from being sent to the center.

  The probe information according to the present invention includes link identification information for identifying links of information collected by traveling of the vehicle and link start point and end node information for identifying the traveling direction of the vehicle. By comparing whether or not both the link identification information included in the probe information and the node information of the link start point and end point match, the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of the other vehicle to the center It can be determined whether or not the probe information collected by the host vehicle indicates traffic information of the same link.

  Further, the probe information of the present invention includes information for identifying the entry time to the link, and the first determination means is information for identifying the entry time to the link included in the probe information. Therefore, it can be determined whether or not the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of the other vehicle to the center and the probe information collected by the own vehicle are in the same time zone.

  The second feature of the present invention is that the probe information received by the receiving means and the probe information collected by the traveling of the own vehicle, the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collecting device of the other vehicle to the center and the own vehicle. It is determined whether or not the collected probe information indicates traffic information of the same link, and the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of another vehicle to the center and the probe information collected by the own vehicle are the same link If it is determined that the traffic information is indicated, the probe information received by the receiving means is transmitted via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication means.

  In such a configuration, the probe information received from the in-vehicle information collection device 1 mounted in another probe car can be further transferred to the in-vehicle information collection device 1 mounted in another probe car.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of a traffic information collecting system including an in-vehicle information collecting apparatus and a center according to an embodiment of the present invention. The in-vehicle information collection device 1 is configured using a navigation device, and includes a wide area wireless communication device 10, a position detector 11, an inter-vehicle communication device 12, and a control device 13. The same in-vehicle information collecting device 1 is mounted on each of the probe cars A, B, and C.

  The wide area wireless communication device 10 is an apparatus for communicating with a center via a wide area wireless communication network such as a cellular phone communication network.

  The position detector 11 includes a geomagnetic sensor, a gyro sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and a GPS receiver (all not shown), and controls information for specifying the current position based on the properties of each of these sensors. Output to the device 13.

  The inter-vehicle communication device 12 is a device for communicating between the vehicle and the in-vehicle information collecting device 1 mounted on another probe car.

  The control device 13 is configured as a computer including a CPU, a memory, and the like, and the CPU of the control device 13 operates according to a program stored in the memory.

  The processing performed by the control device 13 includes a current position specifying process for specifying the current position based on a signal input from the position detector 11 using a technique such as map matching, and a traffic situation for each travel section by traveling of the host vehicle. There is an information collection process for collecting the probe information shown. These processes are repeatedly performed when the ignition switch is turned on and the in-vehicle information collection device 1 enters an operating state.

  The in-vehicle information collection device 1 includes a map data input device (not shown) for inputting map data. The map data includes map matching data for improving position detection accuracy, road data indicating road connection conditions, and the like.

  The road data includes link information and node information. The link information includes a “link ID” that is a unique number of the link, a “link length” that indicates the length of the link, a “start end coordinate”, a “end end coordinate”, and the like. On the other hand, the node information includes information such as “node ID” which is a unique number of the node, “node coordinates” indicating the position (latitude and longitude) of the node, and the presence / absence of a traffic signal at the intersection.

  Each in-vehicle information collection device 1 mounted on the probe cars A to C collects traffic information for each link by traveling, and the probe information including the collected traffic information for each link is sent to the center via the wide area radio communication device 10. To send. The server of the center 2 stores probe information transmitted from each on-vehicle information collection device 1 mounted on the probe cars A to C. The server of the center 2 grasps the traffic jam situation using the probe information collected in this way, and distributes the traffic information by VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) or the like.

  The in-vehicle information collection device 1 according to the present embodiment transmits probe information collected during the period (blocking period) to the information center at every predetermined transmission timing (for example, 5 minutes).

  Next, probe information blocking will be described with reference to FIG. In this figure, probe car A passes through node 1 (intersection 1) at 10:31:30, then passes through node 2 (intersection 2) and node 3 (intersection 3), and 10:36:22. A situation is shown in which the vehicle passes through node 4 (intersection 4) per second and travels on link ID4.

  The control device 13 collects the time required for passing for each link (link travel time). For example, link travel time required to pass through link ID1, link travel time required to pass through link ID2, link travel time required to pass through link ID3 are collected, and the collected information is stored in memory. Remember.

  The control device 13 transmits probe information to the center 2 at predetermined transmission timings (here, 5 minutes). In the example shown in FIG. 2, the previous probe information transmission timing is 10:31:40, and the current probe information transmission timing is 10:36:40, 5 minutes later.

  In this case, the control device 13 uses the entry time (10:31:30) of the link (link ID1) that was traveling at the previous probe information transmission timing as the blocking start time T1, and the final completion at the current probe information transmission timing. The escape time (10:36:22) of the link (link ID 3) is set as the blocking end time T2 and stored in the memory.

  Therefore, in the situation shown in FIG. 2, probe information including blocking period information in which the blocking start time T1 is 10:31:30 and the blocking end time T2 is 10:36:22 is sent to the center 2. The

The probe information in the present embodiment includes information shown in the following (a) to (e).
(A) Link information (link ID) for identifying a link included in probe information
(A) Node information of link start and end points for identifying the traveling direction of the vehicle (c) Version information of map data (d) Blocking period information (blocking start time T1 and blocking end time T2)
(E) Link travel time indicating the transit time for each link information in (a) In this embodiment, when the probe information is sent from the in-vehicle information collecting device 1 mounted in another probe car to the center 2, this in-vehicle Traffic information for each link included in the same probe information is transmitted from the information collecting apparatus 1 via inter-vehicle communication. In addition, the in-vehicle information collection device 1 is configured so that probe information similar to the probe information transmitted to the center 2 from the in-vehicle information collection device 1 mounted on another probe car is not sent to the center 2. By comparing the information transmitted from the probe car with the probe information including the traffic information for each link collected by the traveling of the own vehicle, the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collecting device 1 of the other vehicle to the center 2 and the own vehicle When it is determined that the collected probe information does not indicate traffic information of the same link, a process of sending the probe information collected by the own vehicle to the center 2 is performed.

  Next, processing for transmitting probe information to the center 2 by the control device 13 of the in-vehicle information collection device 1 mounted on the probe car A will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the in-vehicle information collecting device 1 is in an operating state, the control device 13 is in a waiting state for receiving probe information from the in-vehicle information collecting device 1 mounted in another probe car.

  When probe information is received from the probe car B (S200), next, probe information transmission timing is confirmed (S202). Specifically, it is confirmed whether or not the probe information transmission timing has been reached based on the time from the previous probe information transmission timing.

Then, at the probe information transmission timing, it is next determined whether or not to transmit the probe condition to the center 2 (S204). Specifically, the probe information received from another vehicle via the inter-vehicle communication device 12 is compared with the probe information collected by traveling of the host vehicle, and the probe information transmission conditions shown in the following (1) to (4) It is determined whether or not to send the probe condition to the center 2 depending on whether or not all the items of FIG.
(1) Link information (link ID) included in probe information
(2) Travel direction of the vehicle (3) Version information of the map data (4) Entry time of each link information included in the probe information into each link. If they are different, there is a possibility that the link information and the node information do not match. Therefore, as shown in (3), the match of the version information of the map data is determined.

  For (4), the entry time to each link can be obtained by adding the link travel time for each link to the blocking start time T1 included in the probe information. The probe information received from the other vehicle via the inter-vehicle communication device 12 by comparing the entry time to each link and the entry time to the link collected by the own vehicle, and the probe information collected by traveling of the own vehicle are It is determined whether they are in the same time zone. In addition, since it is rare that (4) completely matches, in this embodiment, determination of matching or mismatching is performed using a value having a certain range.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 4, the coincidence determination of the entry time to each link in (4) will be described. FIG. 4A shows the state of entry and exit of each link calculated from information included in the probe information received from another company (vehicle A) via the inter-vehicle communication device 12. ) Shows how the vehicle (vehicle B) enters and exits each link. FIG. 4B is a diagram in which the entry time to each link is shifted (delayed) by 15% of each link travel time with respect to (a).

  The coincidence determination of the entry time to each link shown in (4) of the probe information transmission condition is shown in FIG. 4 (a), the entry time to each link of the own vehicle shown in FIG. 4 (c). Is it included between the time when the other vehicle entered the link and the time when the other vehicle entered the link shown in FIG. 4B is delayed by 15% of the travel time of each link? Based on whether or not.

  In the situation shown in FIG. 4, both the link ID1 to link ID3 indicate that the entry time to each link of the own vehicle shown in FIG. 4C is the same as that of the other vehicle shown in FIG. Each link is included between the time of entry to the link and the time when the entry time to each link of the other vehicle shown in FIG. 4B is shifted by 15% of each link travel time. It is determined that the rush time to match.

  Also, in any one of the link ID1 to link ID3, the entry time to each link of the own vehicle shown in FIG. 4C is the entry time to each link of the other vehicle shown in FIG. If the entry time of each vehicle shown in FIG. 4B is not included in the time shifted by 15% of the travel time of each link, the entry time to each link is not included. It is determined that they do not match.

  Therefore, if even one of the probe information transmission conditions shown in (1) to (4) does not match, the determination in S206 of FIG. 3 is YES, and then the probe information collected by the own vehicle is sent to the center 2. (S206). Specifically, probe information collected by the own vehicle is transmitted to the center 2 via the wide area radio communication device 10.

  Next, probe information is transmitted by inter-vehicle communication (S208). Specifically, the same probe information as the probe information sent to the center 3 via the wide area radio communication device 10 is sent via the inter-vehicle communication device 12, and the process returns to S200.

  If all items of the probe information sending conditions shown in (1) to (4) match, the determination of S206 in FIG. 3 is NO, and the probe information collected by the own vehicle is sent to the center 2, Return to S200.

  FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are diagrams showing the traveling state of the vehicle (probe car) A and the vehicle (probe car) B. FIG. The vertical axis is the travel distance (link ID is written according to the distance), and the horizontal axis is the time.

  FIG. 5 shows a traveling situation when vehicle A and vehicle B travel on the same route (link) at approximately the same time. In such a situation, all the items (1) to (4) in the probe information transmission conditions match, and it is determined NO in S204, and the probe information collected by the own vehicle is transmitted to the center 2.

  FIG. 6 shows a traveling situation when the vehicle (probe car) A and the vehicle (probe car) B travel away from each other. In FIG. 6, when the vehicle B enters the link ID1, the vehicle A has already escaped from the link ID1. In such a state, the item shown in (4) of the probe information transmission condition does not match, and YES is determined in S204, and the probe information collected by the own vehicle is not transmitted to the center 2.

  In this way, the probe information transmitted from each in-vehicle information collection device 1 is accumulated in the server of the center 2. The server of the center 2 grasps the traffic jam condition from the link travel time included in the probe information collected in this way, and distributes the traffic information by VICS or the like.

  According to the configuration described above, when it is determined that the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of another vehicle to the center and the probe information collected by the own vehicle do not indicate traffic information of the same link in the same time zone The probe information collected by the vehicle is sent to the center. That is, if it is determined that the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of another vehicle to the center and the probe information collected by the own vehicle indicate traffic information of the same link in the same time zone, Since probe information collected by the car is not sent to the center, probe information similar to the probe information sent from another car to the center can be prevented from being sent to the center.

  Moreover, if the vehicle-mounted information collection apparatus 1 in this embodiment receives probe information by vehicle-to-vehicle communication from the vehicle-mounted information collection apparatus 1 mounted in another probe car, the received probe information is further transferred to another probe car. A process of transferring to the on-vehicle information collection device 1 mounted is performed. Next, a probe information transfer process by the control device 13 of the in-vehicle information collection device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The control device 13 starts the process shown in FIG. 7 when the ignition switch is turned on and the in-vehicle information collection device 1 is in an operating state.

  First, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication enters a standby state (S300). Specifically, it enters a state of waiting to receive data transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device 1 mounted on another probe car via the inter-vehicle communication device 12.

  When probe information is transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device 1 mounted on another probe car, the probe information is received via the inter-vehicle communication device 12 (S302). Specifically, probe information is received via the inter-vehicle communication device 12, and the received probe information is stored in a memory.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the probe information received via the inter-vehicle communication device 12 is transferred to another vehicle (S304). Specifically, whether or not to transfer the received probe information to another vehicle based on whether or not all items (1) to (3) match among the probe information transmission conditions shown in the determination processing of S204 in FIG. Determine whether.

  Here, when even one item (1) to (3) does not match among the probe information transmission conditions, the received probe information is transmitted via the inter-vehicle communication device 12 (S306), and the process returns to S300.

  If all items (1) to (3) in the probe information transmission conditions match, the process returns to S300 without transmitting the received probe information.

  Therefore, for example, the probe information is collected by three vehicles A, B, and C, the communication state between the vehicles A and C is poor, and the vehicle C is transmitted from the vehicle A by inter-vehicle communication. Even if the probe information cannot be received, the probe information transmitted from the vehicle A can be transferred to the vehicle C via the vehicle B.

  The correspondence relationship between the configuration of the above embodiment and the configuration of the claims will be described. S206 corresponds to probe information transmission means, the inter-vehicle communication device 12 corresponds to inter-vehicle communication means, and S200 and S302 correspond to S204 corresponds to the receiving means, S204 corresponds to the first determining means, and S304 corresponds to the second determining means.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Based on the meaning of this invention, it can implement with a various form.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the in-vehicle information collection device 1 is configured using a navigation device has been described, but it is not necessarily configured using a navigation device.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the vehicle information collection apparatus 1 mounted in the other vehicle showed the example which transmits the same probe information as the probe information sent to the center 2 via vehicle-to-vehicle communication in S200, S302. However, it is not necessary to transmit the same probe information as the probe information sent to the center 2. For example, a part of the probe information sent to the center 2 may be sent.

  Moreover, although the example which transmits the probe information containing the link travel information which shows the passage time for every link to the center was shown in the said embodiment, for example, the position information (latitude / longitude information) of the probe car instead of the link travel information May be transmitted to the center in such a way as to include the movement trajectory information plotted at regular intervals. In this case, the traffic congestion situation can be estimated from the position information (latitude / longitude information) and time information of the probe car included in the probe information on the center side.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the example which transmits the probe information containing the link travel information which shows the passage time for every link to the center was shown, for example, the presence or absence of the traffic jam for every link is determined in the in-vehicle information collection device 1, Information indicating the presence or absence of traffic congestion for each link may be transmitted to the center 2.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the probe information is transmitted to the center 2 so as to include the link travel time for detecting the traffic jam as the traffic situation is shown. For example, the probe information including the traffic regulation information is transmitted to the center 2. You may make it do.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the rush time to each link of the own vehicle shown in FIG.4 (c) is the rush time to each link of the other vehicle shown to Fig.4 (a), and FIG.4 (b). (4) of the probe information transmission condition based on whether or not the entry time to each link of the other vehicle shown in FIG. 5 is included in the time delayed by 15% of each link travel time. In addition, although the example of performing the coincidence determination of the entry time to each link has been shown, it is not limited to such an example.

It is the figure which showed typically the structure of the traffic information collection system which consists of the vehicle-mounted information collection device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and a center. It is a figure for demonstrating blocking of probe information. It is a flowchart which shows the transmission process to the center of the probe information by the control apparatus of a vehicle-mounted information collection device. It is a figure for demonstrating the coincidence determination of the rush time to each link of the link information contained in probe information. It is the figure which showed the traveling condition of vehicle (probe car) A and vehicle (probe car) B. It is the figure which showed the traveling condition of vehicle (probe car) A and vehicle (probe car) B. It is a flowchart which shows the transfer process of the probe information by the control apparatus of a vehicle-mounted information collection device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... In-vehicle information collection device, 2 ... Center, 10 ... Wide area wireless communication device, 11 ... Position detector,
12 ... inter-vehicle communication device, 13 ... control device.

Claims (4)

An in-vehicle information collecting apparatus comprising probe information sending means for sending probe information including traffic information for each link collected by traveling of a vehicle to a center using a wide area wireless communication network,
Vehicle-to-vehicle communication means for directly communicating with the in-vehicle information collecting device mounted in another vehicle;
Receiving means for receiving, via the inter-vehicle communication means, information included in the probe information sent to the center from the in-vehicle information collecting device mounted on the other vehicle;
From the information received by the receiving means and the probe information collected by traveling of the own vehicle, the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collecting device of the other vehicle to the center and the probe collected by the own vehicle First determination means for determining whether the information indicates traffic information of the same link in the same time zone,
In the probe information sending means, the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of the other vehicle to the center by the first determination means and the probe information collected by the own vehicle are the same in the same time zone. An in-vehicle information collecting apparatus that sends probe information collected by the own vehicle to the center when it is determined that it does not indicate link traffic information. The probe information includes link identification information for identifying links of information collected by traveling of the vehicle, and node information of link start and end points for identifying the traveling direction of the vehicle,
The first determination unit compares the link identification information included in the probe information with each node information of the start point and end point of the link to determine whether or not the vehicle information is collected on the other vehicle 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not the probe information transmitted from the apparatus to the center and the probe information collected by the own vehicle indicate traffic information of the same link. In-vehicle information collection device. The probe information includes information for identifying the entry time to the link,
The first determination means includes the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of the other vehicle to the center and the own vehicle based on the information for identifying the entry time to the link included in the probe information. The in-vehicle information collection device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not the probe information collected in step 1 is in the same time zone. From the probe information received by the receiving means and the probe information collected by the traveling of the own vehicle, the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collecting device of the other vehicle to the center and the collected by the own vehicle Second determination means for determining whether the probe information indicates traffic information of the same link;
The second determination means determines that the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle information collection device of the other vehicle to the center and the probe information collected by the own vehicle indicate traffic information of the same link. The transmission means for transmitting the probe information received by the reception means via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication means when the information is received. In-vehicle information collection device.

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